Humanity for Hire
by Anknownymous
Summary: Gat had a big problem on his hands. Handcuffed hands. With no money and the worst idea of where he was, he had to find a way to get his family out and convince the Institute that Piper's life was worth more to them alive than dead. The job ended up costing him something he would never get back. [Sequel to Gun for Hire. Rated M for our favorite warning: contains NSFW content].
1. Bad Ending

_**[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE**__**]  
Chapter 1: Bad Ending  
**_

* * *

Flames crackled gently and Piper hugged her legs to her chest as she rested her chin on her knees. She watched the closed subway door, heart closed off to the occasional muffled curses. Her gaze panned to Luki who sat across the fire, stirring something inside in a cooking pot. He remained quiet as ever, and she hid her smile behind her forearm as she studied him; he was far more bulkier than Garrett, as if buffout was part of his daily diet. One of his arms looked more like a tattoo sleeve, but what she found most peculiar was the _lack_ of a tattoo on the forehead.

This gentle giant had a story, and she finally succumbed to temptation as she scooted a little closer. "I've noticed you don't have a tattoo on your forehead like the others."

Luki looked up, a subtle smile dimpling at the corner of his mouth. "The Gunners didn't trust me enough for the initiation. I was doing probationary time to earn it."

"Cutthroat mercenaries didn't trust _you?_" Piper snorted a laugh and drawled sarcastically, "what, were you too nice for them?"

"Something like that." The dry delivery had her wondering if he was joking too or not, and he grabbed the cooking pot with rags on each handle to lift it off their makeshift cooking stand. He set it aside with a shrug. "I used to be in the Brotherhood of Steel. I served in the Capital Wasteland and at the time, my mission was to inject myself into a mercenary band called the Talon Company to spy on them. I disagreed with the decisions the Brotherhood of Steel made as a result of my intel, so I was... _Persuaded_ to leave. I was forthright with my history when I traveled to the Commonwealth and stumbled on the Gunners."

"So they think you're just spying on them for the Brotherhood or something? But the Brotherhood isn't here."

"Well I was spying on the Talons, so I understand the precautions imposed on me at the time. The Gunners are a lot more organized and have secured many places of tactical value, as well as troves of pre-war equipment and robots; even giving up a location of one of the armories would be a devastating blow if that arsenal went to the wrong hands." A well-spoken and intelligent gentle giant; in another world, she might have been having thoughts about this one instead of Garrett. Luki was forgetting something critical though: that arsenal was_ already_ in the wrong hands. "The Brotherhood is here now, by the way. Didn't you see the airship that came in a week ago? Maybe you were still in captivity with the Sergeant or something."

They both stared at each other, and Piper's anxiety flared at the thought of a militant force conquering the Commonwealth. If it wasn't Institute kidnapping people, it was angry people yelling at everyone and drafting people into the military. She didn't want Nat to be forced to join soldiers and sacrifice her life for who knew what. Piper groaned and buried her head in her hands. "It's like everyone decided that the Commonwealth is _the_ place to screw up and turn into Ground Zero."

"Amen to that," Luki chuckled, "at least it keeps things interesting if all the parties are here."

"Only if you're a gun-toting bloodthirsty maniac."

Silence fell, and Piper looked up to get a closer look at him. She sighed when he still wore his thin smile. Right. She was talking to an ex-soldier who would rather work for mercenaries than a military, and she got a taste of the ruthless beast hiding inside that gentle giant when their hostage refused to talk. She glanced at the subway door and hugged her knees a little tighter, torn as her heart begged to change her mind.

"Leo's not going to... Um... You know...?"

"No. He's not that kind of guy, trust me. I've been with him for a long time. You don't have to worry about yourself either, but let me know if he forgets himself and keeps flirting. He just likes to push the rank's buttons, but he shouldn't anymore now that the Sergeant is... Well... You just let me know if you ever need anything." Luki took out a stack of noodle cups from one of his packs, then submerged the ladle in the cooking pot and began to fill the bowls with stew. He got up and walked around the fire to hand it to her.

"Thanks," she mumbled, holding the steaming bowl to warm her hands as she gently blew on the surface. She glanced at the subway door again. "So what do you think he's still doing in there?"

"Flirting to annoy her to death. He's always been a big believer of the charm offensive."

Piper laughed. "Yeah, I can see how effective that can be. I'd like to think I'm patient - more than most anyways, and he still got pretty close at getting some _words._"

"Only words? That's admirable discipline you got there, Ms. Wright."

Chuckles were shared, and she was grateful that he made an effort - however obvious - to keep the mood light and stress-free, warding the bad thoughts and worries away as time often had the habit of imposing. She sipped at her stew and picked out the chunks of meat with her fingers, humming as an assortment of pleasing flavors and spices engulfed her mouth. Where the heck did he get _spices_ though?

"This is really good," she muffled in between chews, covering her mouth when she remembered her manners. It was cast away when she looked at Luki. "What's in it?"

"Salisbury steak; Leo found a couple boxes at your house. Hope ya don't mind us going through your stock of food."

Piper shut off, shaking her head as her face fell as flat as her voice. "It's fine. Better us than real thieves breaking inside once they see the place is abandoned." She took out a pack of cigarettes as soon as she hoofed her stew down, her fingers quivering as she tried - and failed - to strike a match. She didn't say anything when Luki came around and struck one, helping light her cigarette. She covered her eyes and sucked on her smoke as if her life depended on it, wishing the hand that squeezed her shoulder was the man in her memories.

_"Yeah, gimme a minute. Got 26 seconds left on the steak. Well 22 now. 20. 19..."_

**x - x - x**

"How much gear can I requisition and what kind of aid do I have at my disposal?" Gat wandered around the armory, frowning when all he could see were rows and rows of energy weapons. He turned to his torturer-turned-negotiator. "I don't want any of these weapons, I want my own guns back. All of them. Not a single one better be missing or have your shite stink all over it."

"Do not push your luck, Mr. Butler." The negotiator turned to two other men wearing long black trench coats; their eyes reminded Gat of the _place mat_ arsehole. Cold and sick. "Fetch his belongings." One of them left without a word or acknowledgment, and the negotiator turned back towards Gat. "You can requisition as you see fit, but know that our quartermaster will go over your order and determine if it is a reasonable request. You will have a handler assigned to you who will communicate daily on your progress, and you may speak with him about whatever aid you require; however, if I may humbly offer a fair warning..."

So polite for a fucking prick who tortured him and his sister yesterday. Were all the freaks in this place this fucked up?

"Keep in mind that the Institute has employed you because our bureau fully expects you to be capable of handling this on your own. Is this not the case, Mr. Butler?"

There was a threat hidden in there.

"I can handle it." No. No he couldn't. "Just trying to get a handle on my position here too. How will I know my family will stay safe, and how long do I have on this job?"

"You have a week. The Institute saved your family, by the way. Consider it a courtesy and gesture of faith in your abilities."

"Saved them?" Gat seethed, turning to glare at the negotiator. "You _kidnapped_ them and-"

"The entire company you and your father owed money to has been eliminated. No survivors. We have not bothered taking them to the Institute; we are not a landfill."

Fear locked Gat's muscles down. All those years, all those debts... Gone. No more slaving away. No more selling slaves. He could breathe easy that his niece could finally grow up as a _normal _gal, and that nothing was ever going to happen to his sister ever again. No more torment. No more going to sleep at night, wondering if it was going to be the last night. Gat didn't think, didn't care; he knew Piper would hate him for what he was about to do but... Was the Institute really _that_ bad? They could have done worse. He swiftly approached the negotiator with arms wide out, only to stop when the second man by the door drew a laser rifle. Gat held up his hands in surrender.

"Relax, mate... I just wanted to show my appreciation. You know what hugs are, right?" He didn't, until a certain woman taught him. "Y'did me a bigger favor than y'know."

"Save it. I do not do 'hugs', especially from filthy surface dwellers," the negotiator remarked coldly. "You can show your appreciation by not wasting my time anymore and get started on your mission. I will escort you to your handler and he will give you a tour of the facilities you've been granted access to. Additionally, you will aid him in his research."

Research. One word, and Gat knew how his story was going to end.

A bad ending, just like Cowboy.

_"Boss. His family is **gone.** Mercenaries never keep prisoners for long, you know that yourself. And scientists? That means fucked up experiments."_

Gat narrowed his eyes, posturing bravado he hadn't felt one bit of. "What kind of research?"

**x - x - x**

"Alright, I got new intel!" Leo proudly announced as he kicked the subway door open, startling his companions awake. He grinned at the sight of the Boss' hair sticking out in all sorts of amusing angles. It was a dang shame a stunning woman like that was all alone in her sleeping bag. The Sergeant better shape up and return soon, if he expected to keep her all to himself; not that Leo thought he'd be the one that would get to keep her next, but Luki seemed real chatty around her. It better be for the right reasons, and not for the Wright reason.

"Did she give up Gar-" the Boss suddenly stopped, struggling to stifle a yawn. She pushed herself up on one hand and rubbed her bleary eyes. "Gat's location?"

"Oh. No." Leo's joke turned for the worst when the woman looked absolutely miserable, flopping back down on her bag in anguish. He stuffed his hands in his pocket and exchanged worried glances with Luki as Leo warily approached the Boss' willow frame. "She just told me to go fuck myself."

"That's not new intel," Luki quipped dryly, but their attempt at humor fell short when the Boss hadn't budged. She curled into a ball instead.

"When is Blue going to come back?" The frail whine was too much to bear, and Leo sighed as he sat at the dying embers of their campfire, listening to the Boss' voice crack and warble as she struggled to stay stern and strong. She wasn't going to fool them, but it was a good try. "We can't sit here and do nothing. Every minute we waste means the Institute could be doing _who knows what _to Gat."

Leo took out one of his revolvers and idly spun the chamber with his thumb, biting his tongue as the Boss continued to rant and despair. He exchanged another concerned look with Luki, who blinked exaggeratedly at him. Leo shrugged though; he didn't want to be the bearer of bad news. Why was Luki always dumping that shit on him? Their asshole and nice guy routine needed to be saved for the times it was actually needed, not the times where it wasn't like they'd get any useful information for themselves.

"We can still stage my kidnapping, can't we? The Institute may recognize you two, though, so if you have any friends in the Gunners-"

"The Sergeant might already be dead," Leo blurted, and winced. He reluctantly glimpsed over and groaned when the woman appeared as if she was on the verge of tears. Luki lumbered off the subway bench and walked over to her, resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. The harsh truth was out. There was no use pulling punches now. "So it's up to the General now and what he wants to do with all of this. His family comes first; that's the job I signed on for."

"His family might already be dead too," the Boss spat bitterly, her eyes glinting in the dim subway with broiling fury. "So what the _fuck_ is the difference?" She rocked forward on her heels and snapped up into standing, unholstering her gun as she marched for the subway door.

"She's not going to talk," Leo sighed, "we've tried everything."

"She doesn't have to talk with her mouth."

Her cryptic reply left both Leo and Luki puzzled, but they scrambled to follow after her. She opened the subway door and aimed her pistol, pulling the trigger before Luki reacted in time to stop her. The gun was holstered without another word and the Boss stomped to the corpse, glassy eyes wide and face stricken in last minute fear.

Leo whistled at the shot, dead center between the eyes. "Nice aim, Boss."

Silence answered him, and the echo of her boots as they squished and pattered in the growing pool of blood. The Boss frowned as she toed the corpse's head to roll to the side and knelt to inspect the exit wound in the back. She looked up at them, but her cold gaze zeroed on Luki. "See if you can find some tools and a rag. We're going to extract these components."

"Components?" Leo inquired, daring to approach the unpinned grenade when Luki went off to search their gear for what they had. It was only a matter of time before the Boss would explode, and someone had to keep her calm long enough before her emotions got the best of her; the last thing they needed was her to screw up all their plans because of muddled judgment. He wasn't being paid enough to handle this shit. There should be a bonus fee for being the only levelheaded one of the group. "Does she have wires like the crows? Kinda... Looks like it."

"Yeah. As soon as we get these out and get a good look at the parts, we should move deeper into the tunnel or find a different subway."

"Why?"

"Just in case. I'm giving Blue two more hours and then we'll leave a note for him when we get out of here. The Institute could be tracking their synths somehow, and she might have been buying time for them to find us. Search her clothes and see if she has any kind of radio or something that would help her communicate with them; they had to of somehow, if she helped them get Gat."

Well, for someone clouded by emotion, it was refreshing to see she still had a working brain. Leo marveled at the way she could piece things together so easily whilst staying focused on the task at hand. It was no wonder a brute like the Sarge was so protective over her, and easy - _easier _\- to annoy. Luki returned with a scalpel and several dish rags on a rusted tray, kneeling beside the Boss.

"I can do the extraction, if you want," Luki gestured with the scalpel. "I've got steady hands." He set to work as soon as he got the nod to go ahead, and Leo gagged in his mouth when the scalpel sank in, cutting from the forehead to the back of the skull.

"You two have fun," Leo slapped a hand over his mouth and turned away, waving over his shoulder as he made a swift escape. "I'm gonna get some fresh air."

"Me too!" The Boss yelled, clambering after him... Only to rush past him with her hand over her mouth too. The two made a mad dash for the surface - Leo now more so out of playfulness and a glorious sight in front of him as he ogled her ass in action - and he chuckled when she all but charged up the stairs with a vengeance, doubling over and groaning. "That definitely ranks as one of my top twenty worst ideas I've..."

For some reason, she trailed off, a distant look in her eyes. She was doing that more often, spacing out in the middle of nowhere. She didn't strike Leo as an airhead though. Her back hit the wall and she collapsed on her rump, drawing her knees to her chest as her head lulled back. A strained reminiscent smile pulled the corner of her mouth. "I took the words right out of his mouth. Now that he's not here, he's all I can think about; every sweet memory, every time he drove me crazy enough to consider killing him."

"You wouldn't be the first," Leo joked. He sat down beside her, but still left a generous distance between them, respecting her boundaries. He stole looks at her face, a lump of jealousy growing in his throat when she honestly got teary-eyed for one of the biggest sons of bitches to walk the Commonwealth. Why the hell was a guy like the Sarge even allowed to be this lucky? He should be six feet under instead.

Was it wrong to hope the Institute has already killed him?

"Sounds like even if he's not physically here, at least he's still here." Leo tapped the side of his head. "And he's lucky for it. Most girls like you wouldn't even give a guy like that the time of day. The Sarge must've been treating you real nice to trick you into believing that he isn't an asshole."

"No tricks," the Boss quietly sniggered to herself. "He's definitely an asshole." She buried her mouth against her knees and closed her eyes, humming a familiar tune. "He's a demon. He's a devil. He's a _doll._"

"And you're okay with that? Are you into assholes or something like that? I can pull it off real well, if that's your thing."

"No thanks," she mumbled, "and no, it's not my thing. He's not _always_ an asshole, you know. Well I guess I'm the one who doesn't know; I don't know what he was like back with the Gunners... But I do know he's not like that anymore. It took a long time to get that side out of him, but he's a lot more thoughtful and considerate than he lets on."

This was way too much goody two shoe bullshit than he could handle. There was no way they were still speaking about the same guy.

"Lots of people are for the person they like," Leo scoffed, "but that doesn't mean they're still not an asshole. Did you forget what he said to me?"

"You _did_ antagonize him on purpose; you can't fire shots at someone and not expect them to fire back." The analogy dented his hatred, but not enough to erase it and forget and forgive and move on. The Sergeant was always an unreasonable hardass towards him. Just because he was sweet to someone else - a classy lady Leo would most definitely be sweet on too - didn't mean he was a sweet guy overall. The Boss randomly blew a raspberry against her knee. "And stop flirting with me already." Her gaze narrowed into a glare. "You _know_ it's not going to go anywhere."

"I do. Don't mean I can't have a bit of fun." Leo grinned charmingly, pushing buttons. "You have the cutest little smile when you're angry."

"I'll have the cutest little smile when you're dead, too."

"Ouch! Woooo-wee, ain't you just a firecracker!" Laughter bubbled in his chest, but he repressed it before he gave their position away to any potential threats nearby. He saw a proud little smile tugging the corner of her mouth, and he playfully shoved her shoulder. "Now I get why you and the Sarge are a thing. You're a mean one too, especially when you wanna be."

"Lots of people are for the person they dislike, but that doesn't mean they're still not a good person," her sharp wit retorted lightheartedly, and he chuckled.

"Point taken, Boss. You win." A beat. "He's still an asshole, though. Ten caps says he's pissing off the Institute right now."

Piper laughed, shaking her head.

"Nuh uh. Twenty caps says he's pissing _on_ the Institute."

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

_Welcome to the sequel to Gun for Hire! If this entire chapter was confusing to you and this is your first time picking up this story, make sure you go read Gun for Hire first or none of this will make sense. __As stated in the last chapter of GoH, this story arc will explore all factions' pros and cons through different perspectives; so if you're a firm believer that the Institute is nothing but the definition of evil and the Minutemen are invincible to corruption, then this arc may not be something that appeals to your interests. _

_Thank you Ddastan as always for your review (from GoH ch.25)! You're too kind, and I'm relieved you enjoyed the twist :) Piper in Gunner mode would likely both terrify and turn Gat on lol. __But mostly terrify :P_

_Anyways, hope to see you all in the next chapter! I'm excited to finally get started on this arc as this was the point I stopped at originally before I lost the story. Cheers everybody!_


	2. The Sinner's Prayer

_**_**[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE**__**]  
**_Chapter 2: The Sinner's Prayer**_

* * *

Flickering lights led the way down the tunnel, and Piper kept her hand ready on her pistol for any ferals that jumped out at them. She cussed whenever her foot caught debris and tried to follow in the exact footsteps of the giant that took point. Her temper lashed out and boiled when she knew _exactly_ why Leo oh so kindly volunteered to be the one that followed behind her; she shot glares over her shoulder as a safety measure that he knew not to get any _ideas._

Garrett was the only one allowed.

"Leo," Luki murmured, "take out the paint can. We should draw another arrow for the General here so he knows he's on the right track."

"Aye aye, sir!" Heels smacked together. Both Luki and Piper rolled their eyes at the playful man's antics.

"One of the Commonwealth's greatest mysteries: the Gunners actually accepting Leo into their ranks," Piper teased, and he shot a cheeky grin.

"There's a reason why I'm still just a Private. I've been with the company for about three years now, give or take."

"Seriously? Isn't that a recruit rank or something like that?"

"Yup!"

"Forget rank," Luki spoke over his shoulder, his dry delivery earning a snigger from Piper. "He's lucky nobody in the Gunners killed him. _Yet._ The Sergeant is damn close."

The Sergeant wasn't a gunner anymore, though.

...Right?

"And how long have you two been friends?" She watched as Leo 'masterfully' drew an arrow in the direction they were heading in, his theatrics and vitality something of an acquired taste. He wasn't such a bad guy, as long as he stopped flirting and riling her up. She tossed a pack of cigarettes when Luki took a quick break and propped his laser rifle inside a burned van, who shrugged as he and Leo exchanged curious looks themselves.

"It'll be coming up to a year, soon. We met sometime during the winter." Luki studied what she'd thrown him, and he tossed it back. "No thank you, smoking's not my thing."

"Ooh~ it's my thing," Leo piped up eagerly, and Piper groaned when he bopped as if he was part of some sort of whack-a-mole arcade game. If only she had a hammer to whack this mole. He wasn't ever short on enthusiasm, at least, and that was a refreshing change to the doom and gloom of the city. She rolled her eyes and opened the pack, taking out only _one_ cigarette for him. He smirked wickedly. "Luki gets a whole pack but I only get one? I'm sensing _favorites_ here, Boss."

"Took you long enough to notice," she shot back and playfully stuck out her tongue when he laughed, until Luki cut it short.

"_Shh,_" he hissed sharply, "before we have a horde of ferals coming for us." He massaged his forearm and circled his wrist, stretching out various muscles. Piper hadn't ever seen anyone doing that before, and curiosity was fueled with every stretch. The moment Leo poked her, her innocent expression swiftly turned into a deadpan glare; an automatic response just for ever looking at him and acknowledging his existence.

Or the_ frequent_ bouts of stupidity that came out his mouth.

"Hey Lucky Charms, pay attention, will ya? Warm up your hips and stretch out your groin next. The Boss is making bedroom eyes at you."

Piper twisted and her fist snapped out, catching Leo hard in the shoulder as she scoffed. "Am not!" She ripped the cigarette out his mouth and snuffed it beneath her boot as revenge, huffing as she marched forward. She ignored the heat in her cheeks and refused to meet Luki's gaze; only Garrett was ever allowed to tease her like this, and she was ashamed Leo had gotten a rise out of her at all with all the training _Mr. Handy_ put her through. That jerk had a lot to answer for, leaving her at the mercy of these men to be harassed relentlessly.

"You need to cut it out, man." Luki whispered, and Piper didn't dare turn her head to show she heard as she slowed down to stay within eavesdropping distance. "We're not in the Gunners no more and you have nothing to protect you."

Concern for _Leo?_ Why not scold him on how incredibly rude and annoying he was?

"Aw, I'll be alright big guy. Thanks for worrying, buddy."

"That's not-" Luki sighed. "Just cool it. I'm not going to stop her if she decides to shoot your mouth off."

Duly noted. Locked in her brain forever. At least _someone_ was on her side; finally a man and ally who was focused and professional, rather than hitting her up with a sleazy comment or leer every two seconds. All she needed now was Nick and Blue to catch up to them already, and figure out how they were going to get inside the Institute to rescue Garrett.

And Blue's family.

Piper kicked herself in her head; she kept forgetting that fact and that was the reason she was helping Blue in the first place. Well, that, and finally a chance to demystify the Commonwealth's boogeyman, but... Her investigation was exactly why Garrett was in hot water. Nat could very well be next if Nick and Blue didn't find a safe location for her; and how long would Nat have to be in hiding? What about her friends and education and _life?_ Piper had effectively ruined her little sister's teenage years.

Dad would be so disappointed right now...

"Ms. Wright?" Luki inquired softly, a tentative hand squeezing her shoulder. "Are you alright? You're, uh..." He patted himself down until he took out a creased napkin out of one of his pockets, offering it to her. It was then she became embarrassingly aware of the wet streaks down her cheeks; she grabbed his wrist when he began to turn to Leo, and she shook her head.

"It's not him. It's someone else."

"Oh. The Sergeant?"

"No," she sighed as she wiped her eyes with the napkin, then folded it and stuffed it in her jacket. "It's fine. I'm fine. It's just stress, I guess. I don't know what our next move is."

"It'll become clear when it's meant to." To her surprise, Luki took out a necklace from underneath his shirt. For a moment, she saw a bullet. Then she blinked. A small cross dangled alongside with something that resembled dog tags, and she found it peculiar to see a small screen on them. She itched to inspect them and see what kind of information was transmitted on there, but her gaze was drawn to the cross when Luki lifted it to his lips and kissed it, then stuffed the necklace back in his shirt.

"I've seen all sorts of weird shit in my life," she blurted; it really ought to have been her first obvious hint to shut the hell up, but the words kept tumbling. "But a _faithful_ ex-soldier and ex-mercenary? Doesn't this lifestyle," she gestured to his gun, "contradict all that?"

"Glad to know I ain't the only one fucking confused about it all," Leo quipped quietly, and Luki chuckled. He never gave an answer and took point again.

Maybe he didn't know too, and was waiting on clarity for when it was 'meant' to show up.

**x - x - x**

Gat was escorted throughout the structure by the negotiator and two guards, and he had to keep shielding his eyes from all the bright lights in this place. It gave him a headache. The place was licked clean of dust and rust, and there were machines all over the place - both animated and not. Who actually _knew, _though; the machines hooked up to the walls could still be 'alive' with all the flickering lights, changing colors.

"This is our med-bay. First you will go into our decontamination pod before you are allowed to set foot in any of our wings," the negotiator stopped beside one of the pods and gestured to it. "Please strip here so that we may wash your attire. After that, we will escort you to your handler. Where you will have access to will be determined by him, and whether or not he will arrange a guard to accompany you throughout our facilities."

Gat looked around and noticed several people in lab coats were ogling at him. He shrugged and complied, biting his tongue to withhold his comments when the scientists gasped and covered their mouths. It still wrought a chuckle and he murmured under his breath, "I'm a fuckin' lab specimen already, and all I'm doin' is takin' my knickers off."

"For the duration you are employed in the Institute, we humbly ask that you mind your language and expect you to be respectful as well."

"Yeah." _No. _"Sure."

"We have children here, and it would be best-"

"Kids?" Gat's head snapped up. "Can my niece play with them, then? Will you fix up my sister's leg too?"

The negotiator frowned. "You are not in the position to make requests of us." He engaged the pod for the glass to open, then sighed. "But I will see what I can do and request those resources from your handler on your behalf."

"_Resources?_ Kids aren't resources."

"They are assets owned by the Institute, committed and educated to further the Institute's legacy and secure our future."

"That's some fucked up thinking, mate."

"_Language._"

Gat sighed. "Jesus... Next yer gonna shake a swear jar and count how many fuckin' times I swear, too."

"If that is what is required for you to mind your words, then yes. I understand the value of the so-called 'caps' to you." The negotiator tapped the pod. "Please step inside and lay down; the Institute cannot risk your filthy odor contaminating anything else anymore."

"Ain'tcha ever hear the saying? A little dirt never hurt." Gat smirked when the man already seemed to be at his wit's end; he likely wasn't used to being defied _this_ often, and it was clear he'd rather have a baton in his hand as his trusty tool, rather than his tongue. Gat could relate. Let the talking and negotiating be handled by the smartiepants like Piper. "We're not so different."

"I assure you, we quite are. You are _nowhere _near anything like me." The offended indignation was gold alone, and the annoyed negotiator puffed up his chest; duly noted. Trick locked in the brain forever. Gat chuckled when the pod was patted with a little more force. "Get inside before I order the coursers to _assist _you, and they will not care for any broken bones."

"Alright, alright, hold on to yer fancy panty. I'm gettin' in."

What the hell was a courser, anyhow? Maybe that was their fancy term for the guard dogs; of bloody course a place like this would sugar coat shite and try to sell it off as chocolate.

Gat stepped up on a ladder secured to the side of the pod and climbed in, grumbling with how small it was as he worked his leg inside tiny little slots at a time. Anxiety brewed in the pits of his belly when he laid down, his arms awkwardly squished in. "The fu-" he rolled his eyes when the negotiator cleared his throat. "The _hell_ are these pods made for? Elves?" Would they even know what that was; would they read pre-war novels? They seemed to have created a lot of their own fantasies here. "Guess you eggheads don't need muscle down here, if y'got machines doin' all the work for ya."

No answer. The negotiator all too eagerly pressed the button for the pod's glass to pan over and close. Gat sucked in a shaky breath as one of his deeply seeded fears flared, and weight squeezed down on his lungs. Holographic numbers spun before his eyes on the pod's glass; some sort of diagnostics scan. A skeletal image popped up and he knew it was his when lines pointed to specific limbs, effectively reminding him of every injury he ever suffered.

Air depleted when his anxiety grew out of control, as if he were sucking through a straw. It was reflected on the scan as muscles and organs layered over the skeleton. Words were attached to different organs and the terms sounded medical - different from what Dr. Sun taught him, even displaying a specific amount of radiation that coursed through his system.

"Vitals: abnormal," a robotic voice chimed inside the pod. Gat rolled his eyes. "Heart rate elevated beyond acceptable measures." Yeah. What a mystery _that_ was. "Decontamination procedure: incomplete." He watched the negotiator bring up a panel and Gat tapped the glass, but it didn't seem as though he was heard. His anxiety flared at that thought. He was _trapped. _"Override accepted. Decontamination procedure starting in five, four, three, two, one."

Sprays activated on the sides and Gat brought his arms up to shield his head, the pod _flooding _with some sort of crimson liquid that resembled blood. He panicked and the negotiator's voice came on the speaker inside. "The chemical solution is safe for consumption, you will be able to breathe but it will prove to be an uncomfortable and unnatural sensation."

"Fuck that! I know you're going to drown me! Fuck you, motherfuckers! I hope Piper fucks you all up!" Gat slammed his fists against the pod's glass, letting loose a hail of curses. The negotiator's cold eyes were the last thing Gat saw as red swallowed his vision and air was nowhere to be found, replaced by the liquid that he choked on when the pod filled completely. His lungs kicked and his heart hammered against his rib cage, white noise buzzing loudly in the brain that kept screaming at him to come up for air when every inhale was full of the solution instead. Fear gradually faded away as the strength from his muscles drained, his thrashing slowed.

Lights shut off in the pod and the glass panes turned dark. He slipped away into the abyss, smiling when he saw Piper. Her hand stretched out to him.

All felt right in the world when his fingers laced with hers, and he leaned down for a kiss.

_"Let's go home, Angel. I wanna wake up to you in our bed."_

**x - x - x**

Bullets chipped away at pews and Piper rolled over one, yelping when she slammed down on the bench and broke a chunk of decaying wood away before she hit the ground.

"So much for raiders sleeping!" Leo yelled somewhere within the church, and she rolled her eyes at the cuss thereafter. "Why the fuck aren't you shooting, Lucky?!"

"This is the Lord's home," came the dry delivery, and Piper groaned. The whole man of faith thing stopped being appealing in that instant.

"Well he's on fucking vacation!"

Vacation? More like cessation, after the world - His 'creation' or whatever - was blown to smithereens. She got pissed off whenever she accidentally deleted her progress on an article and often just abandoned the subject all together, depending how much work she put into it; omnipotent or not, there was no way anyone would stick around after who knew how many centuries of putting His work into something that was hellbent on destroying itself anyways.

Piper crawled to the end of the pew and took pot shots around the corner before she made a mad dash to be further away from the other two, spreading out so they wouldn't be surrounded. In the hail of gunfire, she deciphered shouts about lighting 'it' up. She glanced over the pew and helplessly watched in despair as a bottle with a flaming cloth was thrown. She dove to the ground, protectively cradling her head as she yelled. "Molotov, get down!"

Glass shattered and flames roared, spreading and chewing the rotten pews as if it they made of paper. The raiders cackled maniacally and safely pulled out through the church's exit, but the three were trapped. Piper coughed and stayed low when the putrid thick smoke choked the air, crawling as fast as she could to where she thought the other two were.

Hands grabbed her bicep and hoisted her up. "Follow-!" Leo yelled, the rest drowned out by the roaring fire and splitting wood. He pushed her incessantly and pointed when she couldn't find the giant, panicking when she finally spotted Luki by some stairs at the back.

"We'll still be trapped even if we go up, and the smoke will choke us!"

"Go, or we're leavin' without ya. Being roasted like radroaches ain't on our agenda today, Boss."

Piper didn't need to be told twice - not that she had a plan herself, anyways. She may not have been faithful in the Lord, but she sure as hell had a lot more faith in something - someone - tangible, and trusted Luki to have a plan to get them out of here. He ought to have, if churches were his thing. Her mind had a horrible hobby of wandering even in adrenaline-inducing and life-threatening conditions, hearing the Demon in the back of her mind.

_"We should go to the church here; at night, though, when nobody else is there."_

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Garrett probably never expected this kind of interpretation though; and to be fair, he didn't mean just any old church.

_"You're gonna be in the right place when you start praying."_

Church or no, she was praying with all her fucking might every single second of the day. He unwittingly turned her into one of the faithful just by getting his own damn arse kidnapped; she didn't expect any sort of divine intervention though. Especially not for them, but a sinner could still pray, right? She raced up the stairs after the other two and yelped when the stairs buckled and caved to the side, recovering on the next step with too much force. Her foot broke right through and she was trapped, tugging and howling when splintered wood ripped into her ankle.

Luki pushed Leo aside as he yelled, "keep going up; you'll hit the bell, then slide down the roof. There's a truck on the side of the church!" The giant rushed down and grabbed her arms, slamming his boot down beside hers to make an even bigger hole. They stumbled back and the railing crumbled, throwing them over the edge. Luki pushed her to the wall.

...Before he fell into the fire.

"_Luki!_"

Screams of agony pierced the air, and Piper tried to run back down, but Leo grabbed her wrist and tugged her up. "We have to get out of here before we're next, Boss!"

"Let go of me, we have to help him!" She thrashed uselessly, dragged against her will. "How can you abandon your friend?!" She shot him a heated look, only for her world to grow misty when she saw how sheen Leo's eyes were.

"Because Lucky wouldn't want us to abandon our lives," Leo choked out, tugging her insistently. "We have to go. Don't let that asshole's sacrifice mean nothing."

They ran up, and Piper kept wiping at her eyes to try and see; not that she could, with the thick smoke rising quickly. She coughed and choked, tugging on her collar to cover her nose. The church bell was finally in sight and Leo jumped to pull himself up on the roof, then laid down and extended his hand to help her climb over. They peered offside to see where the truck was and carefully slid down; Piper winced at how hot the roof was and yelped when it cracked under her weight. "Hurry! The roof's giving away, Leo!"

They scrambled to their feet and leaned back as they ran down, and her heart surged to her throat when Leo lost his balance and tripped, rolling down and off the edge of the roof. She rushed when she heard a loud thud, followed by his cusses, and braced herself when the roof began to cave in behind her. She leapt off and pain shot up her shins when she slammed down on the truck, grabbing the handle of his backpack as she dragged him off with all her might before the church collapsed on them. He cried out and slung curses about the pressure from the backpack's straps as he held his shoulder, slumped abnormally. If only Luki could walk away with just a broken shoulder.

"Hang in there," she wheezed, "we're almost there. Just a few more meters until we're safe."

Gunfire exploded and she hastily hit the ground as she drew her pistol. Leo groaned as he rolled on his stomach, and they fired blindly... Only to see that the raiders weren't in the alley with them. Piper didn't waste another second as she got back to dragging Leo away by his good arm until they sought cover around the adjacent building, collapsing against the wall to watch the fire raze the church down as they fought to catch their breaths.

Cusses rang out nearby, but they were numb to the threat of the raiders. Piper squeezed Leo's shoulder when he buried his face in his hand, a silent sob wracking through him. She looked away and squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as possible. She didn't know what to say. She hadn't known Luki long, and it still stung like hell. She could only imagine Leo's agony, losing a close - and likely his _only _\- friend.

Just like how she lost Garrett. How much more would God take from them until He was satisfied?

"That fucking asshole," Leo rasped, "that fucking... _Asshole._ He asked to go in that stupid church to do his stupid prayers, and look what that got him? The fucking 'Lord' took him instead. Fucking asshole. The fuck is the point of praying, is this some kind of sick joke? What, is death better?" He cocked the hammer of his revolver back and shot at the sky. "Fuck you! I hope you're real fucking happy now, ya dick!"

Footsteps rapidly neared as someone towards their position, and Piper weakly lifted her gun, her aim shaking from adrenaline. A wounded raider ran _past_ them. She jumped, startled, when he was shot from behind, a _laser _strike through his head; blood sprayed forward and the limp body crashed a meter away. They held their breaths and Piper tapped at Leo, pointing at a trash bin for them to crawl over and hide inside. He gave them away when he turned and accidentally brushed his bad shoulder against the wall, his cuss viciously repressed in the back of his throat.

Heavy feet thudded against the ground, staggered and sluggish. She tried to quell her shaking grip by grabbing her pistol with both hands, the trigger squeezed halfway.

And a sinner's prayer was answered.

"Ms. Wright..." The voice came around the corner, and she saw a bulky arm come out the side, a laser rifle slowly lowered to the ground. "Look away, or you'll be scarred."

Piper didn't care. She scrambled up on hands and feet as she rushed to see the miracle with her own eyes; and scarred, she was - but not as much as_ him._ She immediately shut her eyes as she spun on her heels, stammering. "S-sorry! Leo, um, Luki's going to need new clothes."

"Stimpak first. As many as we've got before these blisters get worse, or wound care will take weeks." Luki tiredly heaved along, and she stole glimpses at a time just to see where he was going. Her cheeks flushed when she got an eyeful of a _cheek,_ though her weary heart ached at the sight of the burns that swallowed the tribal tattoos all along his right side from his neck down, wrapping around his ribs and the side of his entire torso to his... _Cheek._ His arm bled profusely and skin peeled like a snake shedding it's skin, fleshy sacs of blisters already formed. She smiled sadly when Luki held out his good hand to Leo. "Hey. Get up, asshole."

"Hey. Gimme a minute, dick."

All tough and gruff, these two.

"Jeez," Piper chuckled. "Just hug it out, guys. Leo was crying his eyes out a minute ago."

"Was not! And he's naked. I'm not gay," Leo huffed defensively. Of course a guy like that would still make things sexual and physical; he wasn't that different from Garrett.

"You don't have to be gay to hug," she rolled her eyes. "It's not like it's exclusive to anybody; it's a _human_ thing to do. Even synths hug - like Nick."

"Just take my damn hand and get your lazy ass up already," Luki grumbled. "You don't need your shoulder to stand. I'm the one on fire here, so quit being a baby."

Piper crossed her arms and watched with great amusement as they tip-toed around each other, and she fixated her gaze on Luki's upper body to avoid any additional _scarring. _It wasn't until she decided to pick up Luki's laser rifle and 'hid' around the corner, stealing peeks; she was immensely proud to see them embrace the second they believed they were safe from her eyes. She leaned against the wall and looked up at the sky, stretching her hand out towards it.

_"Thank you,"_ she mouthed silently, smiling as her arm fell to her side.

And the Angel prayed for the Demon's embrace.


	3. Blood & Wires

_**[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE**__**]  
Chapter 3: Blood & Wires  
**_

* * *

"Never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad to see this place," Piper mumbled as they stepped foot into the city of Goodneighbor. Right away, she was smacked with the heavy musk of urine, sewage and body odor, and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. It would be the last place she'd ever choose to go; a good cover and place to hide from the Institute, especially with Goodneighbor's terrifying reputation of being able to ferret out Institute spies.

"Let's rent out some rooms at the hotel and fix you two up," she spoke over her shoulder, trying not to gawk at Luki's wounds too much. It made her _nauseous._ Some of his blisters had grown the size of her hand, and she couldn't tune out the poor man's suppressed groans and cusses with every step he took. Leo was surprisingly quiet about his injury, only grumbling about the dreaded moment when he'd have to set his shoulder back in the socket.

"Separate room for me," Luki wheezed quickly. "I want my own bed tonight and privacy while I clean my wounds."

Piper shot a concerned look. "I can help wi-"

"I can handle it, don't worry." The way he had struggled tugging away the waistband of his new cargos - to stop it from chafing molten flesh - was screaming otherwise, and Piper glared at nosy passerbys when they ogled at Luki's bare and burned torso. It was a good call for him not to put on a shirt so it wouldn't _stick_. She was increasingly worried when Leo never protested. His pompadour had fallen and his blonde bangs glued to his sweaty complexion, kicking urgency back into gear as she led the way to the hotel. She felt utterly useless; the stubborn men refused to accept aid even from each other.

"What the heck is with all you mercenaries and this 'tough guy' act?" Piper grumbled under her breath. "It's dumb, not tough." She patted herself down and looked back when she heard clanks and chimes; Leo bounced a cap sack in his good hand and tossed it over to her.

"Scraped them off the assholes that attacked us. Should be a little over 50 in there."

Well, annoying as he was, at least he was resourceful too.

They head to the hotel and Piper haggled with the old lady, using the mens' injuries to draw sympathy, pleased to have the price knocked down to 5 caps; that should have been the reasonable amount to pay in the first place for a dingy run-down hotel that reeked of chems and refuse. They climbed to the top, waiting on Luki when he'd slowed considerably with every step, but still he denied her help when she tried to force his arm to wrap over her shoulders.

"Ain't no way you'll be able to take my weight," he smiled tiredly, "I'll just kill us both if we fall back and crush our skulls at the bottom."

"Luki..." If only he knew the hell she went to and _came back_ from with Garrett, hauling his heavy arse through a destroyed city.

"I'm fine, Boss. Really. I've survived worse."

Yeah, sure. She believed him. _Not. _He didn't have the scars to prove it; not like the ones he was going to get with all these burns. Guilt wracked her, but she forced herself to watch every second of agony to engrave this in her mind forever. First Garrett sacrificed himself for her, and now Luki. She swore she would never let anyone do it on her behalf ever again; not that she wasn't grateful, but this price should have been _hers_ to pay.

Everything was gradually weighing down on her, one by one. She _knew_ it was only a matter of time before it would be the smallest thing that would break her back. All she had to hang on to was a thread of hope, and it was dwindling with every hour wasted on everything _but_ the Institute. Hopefully Blue would reach the end of the subway and read their message about Goodneighbor. She didn't know how else to find him on short notice; if only there were a means to communicate via radio, or...

"That's it!" The idea hit her and her heart soared with hope. The men turned and gave her a strange look, but she waved it off. "I've been thinking about how we could get in touch with Nick and Blue if they don't get our messages in the subway. One of us can go back to Diamond City and get Travis to air a message on the radio; or even Nick's secretary - Ellie - to send one on their private channel. Eventually Nick or Blue will hear it, right? It'll be faster than walking around the whole Commonwealth to try to find them, anyways."

They stared at her like she'd grown a second head. Leo hadn't deigned a response and groaned as he twisted back to continue the climb up the stairs, and Luki simply smiled that polite - and strained - smile before he joined his friend. She didn't understand their reactions and chased after them. "Uh, guys? What the heck's up with that? If it's a bad idea then just tell me."

"I honestly don't give a fuck anymore," Leo seethed venomously, gripping his elbow tighter. "We're fucked up to hell and back, Boss, probably even worse than your lover boy. You know there's no way we're in any shape to go anywhere or fight anything right now, and to top it all off, this is a fuckin' _suicide_ mission now. Everybody knows that nobody fucks with the Institute. We ain't ever agree to paintin' targets on our backs, especially when we don't even have any fucking leads. The hell are you gonna do with those wires from that bitch's head? Was a mistake leaving the Gunners for this crap. Gonna find myself in a grave at this rate."

Shaken, hope depleted again. Piper bit her tongue before she lashed out. He was just speaking the truth - and out of frustration, rightly so with their injuries. She knew she couldn't expect random strangers to suddenly give up their entire lives for... For what? They were mercenaries only _recently_ turned Minutemen, and there was no knowing what terms they had even negotiated with Blue.

There was no knowing what kind of man 'the General' was too. Why wasn't she allowed to have trustworthy friends in all of this?

Piper still looked to Luki for her last vestiges of hope, but the silent giant never looked back at her. He saved her - he was trustworthy. He bid a good evening before he slipped inside his room, and Leo hoisted off his backpack in the hallway before he left for another room. He berated her - he wasn't trustworthy. She sighed and took the last room, dropping her backpack on the bed before she collected Leo's.

Windows were open to let fresh - or as close as it was to 'fresh' - air in the room, and she observed the nightlife in this city, only somewhat comforted by the bustling sounds of people laughing and arguing. She doffed her trench coat and slung it over the chair, searching the pockets for her notepad as she reviewed the information she had collected so far. Her eyes burned at the keywords she scribbled when she had interviewed Blue.

_Kidnapping. Dead mercenary. Family gone. Institute._

It was like staring into a mirror; now the exact same words may very well apply to her life, and she was powerless to stop it. She twisted - startled - at an abrupt knocking at her door and hid her notepad in her jacket. "W-who is it?" Her hand stayed on the hilt of her gun as she slowly approached, ready to snap it out of the holster in a second's notice. She deflated with relief at the familiar voice.

"Luki. May I come in to grab some supplies from your backpack? I lost mine in the fire."

"Yeah, of course." She opened the door and stepped aside for him to come in, and a new wave of guilt gnarled around her guts like barbed wire when she could still smell smoke and fire from his sloughing flesh. She locked the door and noticed his shoulders hike up the moment the click echoed in the room. "Sit on the bed."

"Your assistance isn't necessary; I can handle this on my own."

"It's not a question of handling this on your own." Piper came up and took the backpack out of his hand before he opened the zipper, giving him a stern look. He frowned.

"Then what's the answer?"

"I'm helping you whether you want it or not, and... It's the least I can do. It's what you can do to help _me,_ b-because..." Her gaze roved over his burned torso, a hand with a mind of it's own wandering close to one of the blisters. Luki stepped away and her arm fell. "Just let me help, please. If you're worried about appearing tough, then, well, I don't care about that stuff. The 'Sergeant' shrieked like a girl over needles and bloodbugs and he's still one of the bravest men I've come to know. With you, I'd just be hearing muffled screams across the wall instead of in here, so there's literally no difference, and it won't change how tough you are. If anything you'd be tougher _letting_ me help and-"

"Alright, alright, you've made your point. Point**s**." Luki groaned, slinging off the strap of his laser rifle to prop it against the night table. He carefully worked his way into sitting on the edge of the bed, stretching his right leg straight as he lowered. He gestured for her to come closer. "Let's get this over with, and see if we have a cloth for me to bite down on. First thing I need to do is pop these blisters. Release the pressure."

Piper shuddered at that, utterly repulsed just by the imagery in her head. She forced her mouth to flatten in a thin line before she gagged and gave her _inability_ away, spilling out the contents of both backpacks beside them. They both froze when they heard a sharp thud, followed by Leo's muffled scream. Piper narrowed her eyes at Luki as she thumbed at the wall adjacent to her room. "See? That's what would've happened. Instead of getting this _properly_ taken care of, you both would rather be stupid over this tough guy crap." Another thud, another scream. Piper's blood boiled and she ripped the safety caps off the stimpaks with a _vengeance._

Oh, there were so many words for that foolish, foolish man.

"Hey, hey, easy now with those needles. Don't take Leo's stupidity out on me," Luki quipped dryly with a crooked smirk. "I'm getting seen by Doctor Wright now, aren't I?" He unzipped his pants and rolled on his good side as he yanked down the lip of his waistband; her face flushed hot when he exposed his _cheek,_ though his focus was riveted to the blisters on it - rightly so. "Let's get these out the way and treat them first, my pants are killing me."

It was infinitely worse that these words were coming out of an innocent mouth without any dirty connotations.

Piper cursed Garrett in her mind for tainting her, and at the same time, asked for forgiveness ahead of time if he ever found out she was within arm's reach of a half-naked man - and about to put her hands on his rump. She kept telling herself that this was the least she could do for a man who readily sacrificed himself for her - without ever expecting anything in return. No flirting. No vulgar jokes.

...Suspicious.

Luki hissed and bit down on his fist as soon as she poked and popped the largest blister just below his hip bone, blood trickling down his knuckles. She took one of her spare shirts from the pile of gear and waved it in his face until he bit down on it without protest. Her eyes frequently wandered back to the necklace where the cross and holotags swung, trying to get a read on the illuminated screen as she worked up his entire side. It was the only way to take her mind off the disgusting stench as the fluid ran down exposed sinews of corded muscles and peeling flesh.

Piper leaned closer than she had to when she palpated healthy tissue around his neck, propping her knee on the edge of the bed as she hovered the stimpak over the last blister. She 'moved' the necklace, palming the holotag as she stole a quick glimpse, but it slipped out of her hands when Luki adjusted until he laid more on his stomach.

That name started with an _S,_ not an L.

"I thought I could do this," he murmured, looking at her pleadingly. "But there's no way I'll be able to clean the wounds and trim off the dead skin on my own." That's what she was trying to tell him! Ugh. Would it kill people to _listen_ to her every now and then? She knew what she was talking about. Sometimes. "I'd hate to ask for more, but any chance we could use those caps to buy as much alcohol as we can afford? Goodneighbor should have it cheap."

"Of course." Piper shivered at the thought of _trimming_ dead skin. Her stomach churned and she smiled at her weak joke. "I'm going to need all the alcohol I can drink for that part."

Breathy laughter was music to her ears, the only vestige of positivity left in the midst of all this clusterfuck. It was a wonder Luki had even been positive at all; he _clearly_ had a lot more to be grouchy about than Leo. She cautiously cupped just under his jawbone as she brought the needle close to the last blister, leaving him no time to look and brace as she popped it to end his nightmare. The bed bucked under his weight and he muffled his scream in her shirt.

"I'm sorry," she chanted, "I'm so sorry... It's over though. I'll go get the alcohol right now. Do you need help sitting up? Do you want Leo in here?"

"No way, he's just going to make fun of me and annoy us, then drink all the booze while I stitch my leg up."

Leg? His leg was fine. "Speaking from personal experience?" It had meant to be just a joke, until Luki nodded fiercely. Her mouth hung agape. "No way. Are you serious?"

"I was even _reassuring_ him and saying he was doing so good, that I was proud of him."

Mirth burst out of her before she thought to tame it, and she wheezed _ow's_ as she hugged her ribs. She caught the dresser to stabilize herself and wiped the tears that squeezed out her eyes. "I know I shouldn't say this, but I hope to see this someday."

"It better be on you instead of me again," Luki teased, and he gradually rolled himself back up into sitting, grimacing along the way. She grabbed all the stimpaks they had left and set it beside him, then opened the cap sack and spilled it out to count exactly what they had on hand; enough for a couple of the strongest bottles - but that was Vadim's price. Hopefully Whitechapel Charlie would have some random defective programming that gave some elbow room for haggling.

"Alright, I'll be back in ten. Don't run away from me, okay?" Piper narrowed her eyes as she walked backwards, and Luki merely smiled innocently. She drew a circle in the air around his mouth, ignoring the immediate memory that fired a lump to choke her at her throat when she remembered Garrett doing this to her. As much as it hurt, she didn't want these memories to stop.

She needed to find him, to create new ones.

"I _mean it, _Luki." Luki. L. What was his real name, the one that started with an S? A question for another time. "No running. I will find you, okay? Got it? **No. Running.**" Piper slipped around the corner of the door, playfully watching Luki through the sliver of space - like a creep - as she closed it ever slowly, smirking with pride when she walked down the hallway to the sounds of his chuckles. He needed it. She needed it. They all god damn needed something to look forward to and stay afloat in this mess, especially since _hope_ was their shortest supply. She stopped in her tracks when Leo's door opened and he begun to walk out, and he also froze.

Anger boiled underneath the surface when she recalled his painful words, but she slammed a lid on it and jerked her chin to his shoulder. "Is it back in place?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay enough for now." He sloughed his jacket off of him and threw it inside his room, unbuttoning his dress shirt at the top. "Not lifting nothin' for a bit though." He squeezed the junction between his neck and shoulder as he circled it a little bit, grimaces barely contained. She fought not to roll her eyes when he cleared his throat and looked at her door. "I heard you two in there."

"He's okay enough for now, too. I'm going to the bar to get their hardest stuff for him before I clean his wounds."

Leo cast a nervous look at the door, and then marched down the hallway without her. She frowned, unimpressed, until he took out a comb and began fixing his pompadour back up. "I'll handle that. You sit tight with him and make sure he _stays_ okay enough. He ain't a drinker, but there's just one he likes."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Piper smirked as she bounced the cap sack in her hands. She tossed it to him when he twisted and held his hands out, never stopping. She hoped she was doing the right thing, trusting Leo not to just drink all their caps away, as Luki's recently famous story proved. She went back to the room and tried to open the door, but it was locked. Right. A sensible decision in this city. She knocked on the door and called out. "Luki? I'm back."

"That was fast," came the muffled answer, and then a ton of creaks and whining. Just great, exactly what she needed: the creakiest bed in the city. There was no way she was going to get decent sleep tonight. She listened closely for footsteps, wondering what was taking him so long, but reminded herself to be patient for _Doctor Wright's_ new patient. She was stumped when she finally heard him lumber to the door, but he hadn't opened it. "What's the password?"

"_What?_" Piper blinked, her mind blank over a simple question; a question they never discussed the _answer_ to. "Um... Minutemen. Lucky Charms. Leo's a jerk. L-"

"Nice guess - the Leo one." The door swung open and Luki smiled, borderline smirking. He stepped aside for her to enter, eyeing her hands the same way she eyed the rifle in his. Apprehension tinged his crestfallen look. "They didn't have anything cheap enough?"

"I ran into Leo and he offered to get it, he said you're not a drinker but he knows the one you like." She closed the door and head to the open window to see if she could spot Leo in the city below. She waved Luki over, surprised he'd already followed close behind, and watched his face with nervousness; he'd know his own friend best and if Leo was trustworthy enough to make a booze run. A blonde pompadour and blue dress shirt was easy to spot in a crowd of fedoras and dirty suits. A dark glower swept over Luki's eyes and her stomach sank. "No... He wouldn't, would he?"

"He would. It wouldn't be the first time. I'll be lucky if he brings at least half a bottle and a tray so we can burn the alcohol and sterilize our tools." Luki sighed and dropped his rifle off beside her trench coat, dejected and disappointed when he plopped down on the bed. He set aside the medical tools and she chewed her lip as she alternated between watching him and the pompadour, until it disappeared in the bar. "I'm surprised he even remembers I'm not a drinker."

"Well, he's not getting away with it." Piper grabbed her trench coat, determined to be Leo's helpful _reminder_ of their priorities. "I'm going down to make sure we get what you need." She stormed out, but not before she huffed, "new password: Leo's the worst friend ever." She closed the door and charged down the hotel with a _fury_ burning in her soul. She took out her notepad to scribble and vent some of that anger before she caused a scene, when that jerk would - no doubt - rile her up on purpose.

Wasn't her notepad in the other pocket, though? She slowed down at that thought and looked down, putting the notepad back in the pocket as she tried to recall where she had actually hid it before Luki showed up. She turned and looked at the hotel; the window was closed. She narrowed her eyes when she spotted someone leaning against the panes.

That was no bulky man. That was a slender figure.

Maybe Luki wasn't trustworthy, after all.

**x - x - x**

Gat awoke with puke rushing up his throat. He barely twisted in time so that it wouldn't be all over him, and vomited beside the bed. _Bed?_ He wiped his mouth with the sparkly white sheet and scanned his surroundings swiftly, his last memories still fresh in his mind. Instead of a cramped pod, he was in a spacious room with a generous amount of furniture and decorations. His clothes hung in the closet across from him; so that's how hangars were meant to be used.

Hesitantly, he scooted out of bed and looked down at himself, running a hand along his skin and pinching it to feel how _real_ it was. There was a fear of what he thought he was.

Nothing was out of place; he'd gone so far as to check his own bits to see if King Arthur was genuine, or just a sorry ass _replica _that couldn't compare to the real thing. Just summoning an image of Piper, naked and hiding her pretty face in a pillow to moan, had been more than enough to encourage the _soldier_ to twitch and slowly stand at attention.

"It works," he murmured, flicking the tip of his penis. He wasn't totally convinced yet - maybe synths could still get down and do the rumpy pumpy. He glided his hands down his chest again; it was such a strange feeling to be this _clean._ When the gripping nausea gradually faded away, he noticed that he had felt stronger. Healthier. _L__ighter._

Gat purged the pictures from his mind before he got carried away, not wanting to give the Institute a free show if they had cameras or some sort of recording device in here. He made no overt moves to look, stealing glances as he inspected different objects in the room as an excuse to turn in another direction. Half of the gadgets he played with, he couldn't deduce what they could be for. He dressed in his clothes, brushing the fabric with his hands the same way he did with himself; it felt so different now that it was clean. All the stains - blood and dirt - were gone. He traced an invisible line under the RobCo insignia on his green shirt.

Knocks alerted him, and he navigated around a bloody _privacy_ wall - a joke; there was no way he actually had any privacy in here. The Institute would be dumb as bricks to just let him off his leash that quickly... But he'd have to be dumb as a sack of shite to betray that risky trust, with his family in their hands.

"Mr. Butler?" Came a voice - not monotone like the negotiator's - on the other side of the door. "Are you unwell, may I enter?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Gat opened the door, arching his brow as he took stock of the incredibly short and thin young man. His hair was messily spiked, an illusion adding a couple inches to his height, and his lab coat hung on his willowy frame as if it was clinging for dear life. "Jesus, do they feed you at all here?"

On that note: what do they even eat? Knowing them, after what he'd seen so far, it was probably some sort of disgusting synthetic - but 'nutritious' - chalky paste.

"A pleasure to meet you as well. I'm your handler, Adam." There was an almost aggravating nasally quality in this little man's voice, and he was awfully perky. Gat didn't do perky. He _shot_ perky. His face fell flat and he struggled not to bang his head against the wall when Adam invited himself inside. "I trust you've found your new accommodations far more pleasing than... Whatever garbage you sleep in, on the surface?"

Great. Chirpy _and_ cocky. Gat didn't do cocky, unless he was the one being cocky. Especially with Piper.

...She must never know he was still having inappropriate thoughts of her, even in captivity; she would likely shoot off his cock and bring a permanent end to them otherwise.

"Yeah, real spiffy, _mate_. Just woke up and gettin' the hang of them now. Got one question though: where's the water closet?"

"Water... Closet...?"

_"You know. Washroom? Toilet? I'm sure y'think I'm a right wanker after our_ lovely_ chat, but contrary to what y'think, I still respect your privacy."_

God. If he knew this was going to happen to him when he first spoke with Piper...

"Forget it," Gat leaned back as he looked down the opposite hallway. "Think I just found it. Gimme a minute, I needa use the loo." He needed to make sure every part of him was working, and then try to trip up that little cocky man to see if Gat was made of blood or wires. He peed well enough, experimentally pushing down the handle of the toilet when he was done. His eyes widened when it actually flushed - and it was _powerful. _"So that's how that shite is s'pose to work..."

"Mr. Butler?" Adam called outside the bathroom. "If I'm not mistaken, you're in something of a time crunch - and so am I. I have gear and instructions that will prove useful."

Reluctantly, Gat cleaned up and returned to his animated 'handler'. He was smacked with confusion when there were a whole bunch of folders on the coffee table, and Adam made himself comfortable on a couch. He gestured to the other one beside him, and Gat chanted to stay _calm_ as he neared the man he would sooner choke.

Chris'sakes, the fucking things he did for the ones he loved...

"Instructions?" Gat echoed as he opened a folder. It seemed to be more of a blueprint instead, and a lump surged to his throat when he read the title: Cybernetics Division.

He wasn't a synth. He was something much _worse_ than a synth.

"Yes!" The abnormally cheerful man leaned over, shoulders brushing, pointing at the title. "Thankfully, it's come to my attention that you've actually educated yourself to read. It's such a depressing fact to know most surface dwellers don't; no wonder most of you have succumbed to idiocy and violence up there."

Surface dwellers. That was the second time he heard it - was he in some sort of massive underground bunker? A vault?

"I've personally worked on you and upgraded many of the features myself, but a lot of it is still experimental; it would greatly aid my research if you pay attention and report back to me on a daily basis to fix any issues that may arise."

"I'm barely human anymore..." Gat murmured in horror, tuning out Adam when he flipped the pages and zipped through the 'instructions'. Gat's blood boiled and he snapped up into standing as he ripped away from Adam. "What the _fuck_ is this?!" His fingers itched to squeeze a trigger and end this nightmare, but what was terrifying was that he hadn't known _who_ to aim at. "I was only supposed to bring in Piper; I never agreed to be part of your fucked up experiments!" He jabbed a threatening finger in Adam's chest, who smiled as if there was nothing fucked up about any of this. Make no mistake, that cheerfulness was just a cover up for the maliciousness underneath.

"You're not in a position to agree or disagree, Mr. Butler. And, might I point out, you had - in fact - given permission when you agreed to work for the Institute. That means you're our property. Now, I have two different opportunities for you to choose from. From what our investigation into you has turned up, you sometimes display intelligence, and - however rare the occasion - I have confidence you'll do so now. Listen carefully." Adam lifted his forearm and pressed a button on something that appeared to be some sort of watch, to which two guards immediately responded and came in. Adam calmly gestured to them.

"We can do this the hard way where I incapacitate you, strip freewill away by planting a chip in your brain, and turn you into a mindless robot like those inferior and bug-riddled synths... Or the easy and sensible way. Work with me and help me improve cybernetics, which is far more superior and reflects the Institute's motto best: mankind, _redefined_. As it stands, I am the last scientist as my division and project is in danger of being shut down, in order to redirect resources to the robotics division and synth retention bureau. You are my last chance, so I promise you will receive nothing but the best care and attention. I assure you, you will find your upgrades nothing short of useful. I have only enhanced your combat abilities; your humanity has not changed... Fundamentally."

"Easy for you to say," Gat growled, waving dismissively at the two guards. "How the fuck am I supposed to know I'm not just going to turn into them?"

"You would know if you would just sit back down and allow me to explain everything as I was trying to do," Adam sighed as if he was slighted and annoyed; the fucking _nerve_ these eggheads had. They weren't used to being told 'no', were they? Not if they were just kidnapping people as they very well pleased and pulled bullshit like this without consent, thinking that it was just _better_ because it was _smarter._

"Every change I've ever made is displayed in my design. I'm not hiding anything - I cannot afford to if I must present accurate and consistent results in order to ensure my research deserves a place in the Institute." Adam's cheerfulness abruptly faded in place of a darker and serious look. He looked at the two guards. "You are dismissed. Mr. Butler no longer poses any threat."

How cocky _was_ this guy? Those were some hefty words.

When the guards left, Adam relaxed in his chair. A thin and smug smile dimpled his clean-shaven cheek. "I plan to prove the Director wrong and show my division is the true path to securing the Institute's future." If he felt comfortable saying something like this with no guards in the vicinity, then maybe there weren't any recording devices planted in here. Duly noted. _Idiots._ "My subjects have produced no flaws, compared to the boundless errors the robotics division has repeatedly manufactured with all their generations of synths. Meanwhile, I am able to genetically enhance every aspect and break the limitations placed on us - from combat to intelligence to _lifespan._ Cybernetics will not only free humanity and secure both reproduction and evolution, but also efficiently eradicate the filth responsible for our devolution."

"Enhancements, huh? What about compassion? You fuckers need that too - and if you live even longer, y'won't be any different than the fuckers I kill in the wasteland."

"We will always be different than surface dwellers. We actually possess _humanity,_ something in short supply in the wasteland, as you've experienced yourself."

"Humanity? _You_ guys? Hell no," Gat hissed, "because from where I'm standing: here ain't no different than 'there'."

Powerful laughter exploded from the tiny man, and Adam kicked up his leg over his knee as he opened up a new folder and patted the empty chair beside him. "I'm looking forward to working with you, Mr. Butler. It's refreshing to finally have someone to debate and deliberate with me again. I'll make a note about your observation on the side-effects of longevity."

"Here's another observation to make: I'm not giving you ideas to help you, asshole."

"You don't have to. I'm exercising my compassion-"

"Y'don't fucking have compassion."

"And the definition is: sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. You, my friend-"

"I'm not yer fuckin' friend."

"Have been suffering for too long, held back by your limitations. I will rectify that."

"You're not fucking god, either!"

Instinct screamed _danger_ when a cold glint illuminated Adam's eyes. His 'innocent' smile was ripped from the pages of a horror novel. "I don't aim to be. I aim to surpass god."


	4. The Lion's Legacy

_**[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE**__**]  
Chapter 4: The Lion's Legacy  
**_

* * *

Piper crossed her arms and cleared her throat _very_ loudly to make sure she was heard above Magnolia's singing, trying to ignore the heat collecting at her cheeks when Leo still continued to make out with some random woman on a ratty couch; did they have any shame? Well, no one else seemed to care. She stepped closer and tried again, tapping the toe of her boot against his heel. He groaned exasperatedly and pushed himself up as he tossed a dirty look over his shoulder.

"I'm fuckin' busy he-" he stopped when his gaze connected with hers. He hadn't at all appeared nervous and his lips curled in a cat-like smile. "Oh. Hey Boss."

"Oh. Hey Leo." Piper glowered at the woman who continued to try and unbutton Leo's dress shirt, clearing her throat again. It went ignored. Piper tried to remain as calm as was humanly possible in this aggravating situation, and she kicked his boot until he shot off the couch completely, rubbing his nape as he chuckled.

"Sorry, sweet pea," he apologized to the stranger, "another time, yeah? Thanks for a good time to-"

Piper pinched his ear and began to drag him away before he kept stalling, uncaring whatsoever of what this did to his image as his _ow's_ earned the notice of several amused eavesdroppers. She pulled and shoved him towards the bar as she marched hot on his heels. "Unbelievable... I'm babysitting two grown ass men. Do you just not care that your friend is in pain?"

"Does he care?"

"Half of him is _burned!_ I'm pretty sure th-"

"Yeah, and I busted up my shoulder because that prick wanted to go 'pray', and look where that got us? He didn't even say sorry."

"So to get back at him, you lie to me and take our caps just to whore around with strangers? Yeah," she turned her nose up as she drawled sarcastically, "makes _perfect_ sense."

"Our caps? We wouldn't even have them if I didn't take 'em off the raiders just because you two are too fucking holy to do it."

There was no staying levelheaded with this infuriatingly selfish man. She gritted her teeth and made sure her hand stayed down at her side before she laid it on him - specifically his _face._ She mockingly rose her hands in surrender as she took a step back. "My _apologies_ for ruining your lovely evening out." She twisted around and stormed off, raving. "I will never understand how the hell you two are friends, or why anyone would stoop low enough to even _kiss_ such a disgusting man like you." Her wrist was grabbed and she spun back, crashing into Leo. He wrapped an arm around the small of her back and she immediately beat her fist on his bad shoulder to force him to let her go.

Leo cried out and grabbed his shoulder, nostrils flaring as he hissed with agony burning bright in his eyes, bringing out different hues of blue. "You think he's such a great guy, yeah? Just because he's nice to you. Well, _newsflash,_ lady: he's got two faces." He glanced around when more eavesdroppers began to take notice, and he gently pushed her towards a separate room.

Piper's hand slipped under the lip of her trench coat as she held on to the hilt of her gun _just in case,_ glaring at him. "You're just jealous. Just like Gar - _Gat. _Maybe if you were less of a jerk and actually had some manners, then-"

"Manners? What fucking good is being a _liar?_ I thought a 'reporter' like you would appreciate honesty instead, but you're all fucking over him. He's got you singing to his tune; you're not the first. Whenever we need information, we play the 'nice guy and asshole' routine to build trust faster."

"I wonder which one you are," she seethed sarcastically. "What the hell kind of information would you even need from me, anyways? Who do you two actually work for?"

Leo's mouth opened, then immediately snapped shut as confusion sprawled over his confusion. "Who do we work for?"

"He's meeting with someone right now. Before I came in here, I looked up at the hotel and saw someone else at the window." Piper's hand dropped from her gun, and she watched his expressions carefully. Her heart sank when his distant gaze fell to the ground. "You... Didn't know." His jaw rippled and his forehead creased, wiping a hand down his face with a dejected sigh. His voice was devoid of emotion and his shoulders caved in exhaustion. His mouth opened and closed repeatedly, and he lumbered over to the room's couch as he sat with a huff.

"We're dicks to each other," he admitted quietly, "but he's been the only person I've ever trusted. And now..." He looked up. "Whoever he's meeting, it's not the first time. I've caught him with a woman before - before you give me that look: not like that. Same chick, though. _Twice._ Chances are it's her again this time."

"You caught them? What did he say about it?"

"Just tried to play it off," Leo shrugged, "said she was his friend and they were catching up on old times, and that's it. Never saw them doing nothing though, they only ever talked. Friends? Bullshit. They had to be fucking. Ain't no such thing for a man and woman to just be friends if they ain't got no other friend to fuck, and they were always up close when they 'talked' - kissing distance close."

Piper's lips thinned in a sad smile. "It's not always about sex, you know." She bit her tongue before she blurted how she hadn't expected him to understand something like that, though. Not when he knew she was taken and still leered at her like she was just a piece of meat. She hesitantly approached and sat beside him on the couch, leaning forward to keep watching his face when he buried it in his hand. If Luki indeed fooled her, then she hadn't put it past Leo to lie straight out his ass at every turn for this too. She needed to get to the bottom of this _now_ if she were to determine if it was safe to even travel and work with them anymore. She couldn't rescue Garrett if she was at risk of getting caught or killed herself.

"She's got to be tailing us," Leo mumbled, "she had to have followed right behind us and paid for a room if she was up at the hotel. Maybe she slipped in his room and hid there after we all separated? No other way to get up to the rooms without that old hag whinging about caps." He curled a fist and hit his temple, sighing. "I should've paid attention to our flank in the subway. Why the fuck did you have to walk in front of me?"

Piper's face fell flat as she deadpanned. "I didn't _want_ to. You're the one who made sure I did." She relaxed back on the couch and stared at the peeling plaster on the ceiling, her brain racing to try and piece the puzzle together. "She had to have been in the room with him when I came back to him to tell him you were buying the alcohol, but... I don't know. I can't say she wasn't hiding if I didn't think to look for anyone hiding anywhere. Maybe the shadows? Under the bed?" She looked at him. "When was the first time you caught them?"

"Not too long after we met in the winter, so whoever they are, they've been doing this shit for almost a year." Leo bit his thumb and raked a hand through his pompadour, uncaring when it had fallen out of sorts. "That dick toyed with me for-"

"We don't know who they are. They might have a good reason for sneaking around."

"Yeah, Boss. For the _Institute. _What the hell else would they be doing it for?"

Piper chewed her lip and closed her eyes. The dots weren't connecting, and she shook her head. "I wouldn't be here then, and he wouldn't have pushed me in the church."

"Yeah, but he fell in a fucking _fire _and we saw the building collapse. Nobody jumped off that roof 'cept us; that ain't the first time he's survived fucked up shit, too. Maybe he got you out the way so he can trick you into thinking he's on your side, make it easier for the Institute or... I don't know. Something."

"I was alone with him in that room, Leo. And then that woman might have been there the second time - that was two chances to do whatever the hell the Institute even wants with me. I think it's safe to say they want to silence me." The beginnings of a headache throbbed, and she massaged her temples before she pushed off from the couch and turned to Leo. "Let's get Charlie's strongest alcohol and run back, crash their party to start our _own._ We can't give ourselves away if we don't catch them though."

Neither could she afford to let her guard down and trust Leo, even now.

**x - x - x**

"What happened to keeping your head down and trying not to do anything... Stupid?"

Luki smiled to himself. He turned after he locked the door and locked eyes with the woman who infiltrated his room - _again _\- by climbing back in through the window. "Says the one who's best idea was to scale and hide _outside_ the hotel." He closed the distance in a couple strides and framed her jaw, but her calloused hand - dirty and scraped from holding on bricks outside - landed on his chest and kept him away. "Don't do that ever again. You could have fallen off."

"You could have kicked her out faster." She hooked her hand on his good shoulder, her worried gaze sweeping over his wounds. "I wish I could help... Don't suppose you could convince them that you were able to do it all by yourself?"

"Doubt it, Ms. Wright's as sharp as a knife. If you have spare stimpaks then we can inject them now. I only have two and that's not going to be enough to cover everything."

Her mouth pressed thin. She slung over her satchel and sifted through the contents, and he interrupted her by tilting her head up to capture her lips. He smiled when she sighed, her finger hooking and curling on his necklace as she pulled him closer. "I expect a full debrief," she murmured in between kisses, a hand blindly searching for stimpaks in her satchel. He barely had any time to brace himself when she'd uncapped one and stabbed it just above his hip, and she kissed him harder to muffle his scream.

"Lord Almighty," he rasped, "are all women this happy to stab me?"

"You deserve nothing less after the stunt you pulled. Do you think I was happy to just sit back and _watch?_ I was ready to run into that burning church and drag you out myself; that civilian should be hauling ass to help you right now." She pulled away and snapped the needle off the syringe against the dresser, then went to open the window and threw the empty container out. She took out another stimpak from her satchel as she turned to him, blue eyes narrowing in a menacing glare. "Why are you even doing this? You and I both know that we can't save them all."

"We can still try."

"Have you forgotten your promise? That comes first."

"Leo's on a better path now; or would you rather we go back to the Gunners?"

"You won't be able to change him."

"We can still _try._" Luki viciously repressed another scream deep in his chest when she stomped to him - only to stab the next stimpak in his bicep, depressing the entire canister's contents. The fluid pulsed and rushed before the feeling faded. "I can't just sit back and _watch,_ Sarah, and I know you can't too." He sucked on the corner of his lip and chewed, sighing when she extracted the needle. He reached for her jaw, but she twisted away and got to work to discard the empty stimpak. "We swore an oath and-"

"And we broke that oath." She ripped out another stimpak and tore off the safety cap. He braced himself when she stomped up to him, but the stimpak hadn't torn into him as viciously as he expected, when her worry blended with frustration. Her eyes softened and she gently lifted his burned arm by the elbow, hovering the needle over his ribs. "This one's really going to sting. Brace yourself, and try not to bring your arm back down."

Pain burned just when she tightened her hold on his elbow and she positioned herself so that her shoulder was under his arm. It was agony for the melted flesh to be stretched even to this degree, and he squeezed his eyes shut as tightly as possible when the lightest touch of her thumb sent scorching hot lava searing down his nerves.

"Alright, on the count of three. Ready? One... Two..."

Luki buckled when the stimpak sank in, her bloody 'three' drowned out by the agony. He came to on his knees, in tears, her supple mouth enveloping his as she passed on her apologies through the motion of her lips. She broke away with an urgent command. "Get on the bed, soldier."

"W-what? Now? Here?"

"Not _that,_" she laughed quietly, pulling on his good hand until he stood. "They're coming back - I spotted them through the window. I've got to go. Keep the door unlocked and pretend you're sleeping when they come in." She discarded the last stimpak under the bed and marched over to unlock the door, then looked back at him. She rushed to steal one last swift kiss, and he was left with nothing but the hollow sounds of her holotags clacking and the ghostly sensation of her lips on his as his memory; his reminder of his mission.

Luki lumbered along to the bed and carefully laid down on his good side, eternally grateful and already feeling just a little bit better, knowing he had an abundance of stimpaks hard at work inside. The healing process would be a lot quicker and there shouldn't be any risk of infection any more. Stiff joints popped and sung a tune along with the creaky bed, and he closed his eyes as he tried to erase every thought and emotion Sarah stirred inside of him.

God, but he missed her. He could relate to how much Piper was hurting - and at the same time, not at all. He didn't know what he'd do if the Institute ever kidnapped Sarah.

Maybe that's why he needed to see this through. Maybe, just maybe, this would teach Leo what it meant to be human.

Knocks alerted him, and he sucked in a slow breath as he bit his tongue to stop himself from answering when Piper softly called out on the other side. "Luki? We're back." The knob rattled and the door opened, followed by two sets of footsteps. They lightened and he knew it was her that snuck up to him, whispering to Leo. "Should we wake him up?"

"Yeah. He needs to get that shit taken care of before it gets infected. Could just poke 'im with the stimpaks now, but it'll be safer if he's awake so he doesn't kill ya for it."

Luki pretended to be roused awake and slowly turned, wiping the 'sleep' out of his eyes as he yawned. He blinked blearily at the woman who hunched over him, and he immediately turned when he noticed her gaze was on the holotags again - she was too damn curious for her own good.

Too damn confrontational, too.

"Sarah," she stated flatly, straightening. She shook her head when he faked confusion. "No. I'm not falling for that anymore, and I want answers. Who are you, and who's Sarah?"

"She's... An old dear friend. A woman and senior officer I admired - as many others had - back when I was serving the Brotherhood. She was pronounced killed in action shortly before I left the Capital Wasteland." Luki propped up on his elbows as his mind raced for a suitable _enough_ explanation to satisfy her. He knew he was done as soon as she was suspicious; there was no lying to her, but there was no telling the full truth to her, either.

"So you're still serving?"

"No. I left the Brotherhood when I left that wasteland; that was and still is the truth." Luki caught the exchange of looks between Piper and Leo. His friend made himself comfortable in the shadows and watched him closely. Why were they _both_ suspicious? Something wasn't adding up. Leo never pieced anything together even when he saw Sarah, so this had to be Piper's doing.

"How was your friend killed?"

Every question was weaving a bigger lie, but Sarah drilled him countless nights to help him prepare for any line of questioning from any kind of person - civilian or soldier. Before he opened his mouth, however, Leo cut in coldly. "Friend? Bullshit. You two were fucking like dogs."

Piper shot a glare at Leo, but Luki saw through the _routine_ right away - the asshole and the nice guy. It hadn't stopped him from wanting to snap at the man to show _respect_ to Sarah, but Leo hadn't known who she truly was. Not yet. He sighed and cautiously pushed himself up into sitting, disappointed to see Piper step away from him as her hand lingered near her gun. "Let's stop wasting time with these games. It's clear you two know something." Luki held up his hand as a silent plea when Leo's mouth opened. "Just hear me out first, before you two accuse me of whatever it is you're thinking. However, I beg that what I say right now stays in this room and-"

Knocks immediately set all of them on high alert, and they all reached for their weapons when the door opened. Luki's eyes widened when Sarah stepped in, and slowly closed the door when she leaned against it. She subtly shook her head at him and took command of the situation, as she always did, looking at the other two. "Whatever issue you two have with him should be taken up with me. My name is Sarah Lyons, and let me begin by stating: we are _not_ your enemy. I would appreciate it if you stopped treating him like one."

Tension rose and the atmosphere shifted into something honestly _terrifying; _and Luki had survived many grueling battles of all forms in his lifetime. He shifted nervously as he bit his tongue, trying not to ask Sarah what in the world she was thinking. She wasn't ready. This was jeopardizing everything...

But he had already done that the moment he allowed Leo and himself to get involved in this mess.

"If you're stating that, then you're already aware of how I see all of this right now," Piper murmured, taking out the notepad from her pocket. She looked at Luki and still addressed him instead of Sarah. "You put this in the wrong pocket. If you're not my enemy, then why do you want to see what I've got?"

Sarah sighed loudly and drew the attention back to her. She pushed off from the door and approached Piper, who's hand hovered ever closer to her gun. Sarah's piercing gaze flickered to that hand and clasped her wrists behind her as she stood at attention like a soldier, the position ingrained in every muscle of her body.

"We're not with the Institute, nor are we with the Brotherhood anymore. I was a Sentinel until promoted to the rank of Elder when my father passed away, but we _escaped_ from the Brotherhood when Luki uncovered a plan to assassinate me, as most of the Brotherhood felt that my father betrayed the core tenets. They knew I shared his vision and would have carried on his legacy. But Luki and I came to the Commonwealth, because..."

Luki silently prayed she wouldn't say it, and saw her struggle. He rose quietly and bowed his head as he approached her and reached behind, grabbing her hand in hopes it would somehow grant her strength. She squeezed his fingers the moment they interlaced. Sarah looked up at him, smiling bravely.

Piper raked a hand through her hair and slipped her notepad back inside her pocket; Luki cussed at himself for making such an amateurish mistake. It was probably the catalyst that sparked her suspicion and turned her hawk eyes on him. The reporter had a frightening intuition, but that made her a formidable opponent to the Institute. Piper looked at Luki, her lips spreading in a weak smile as she quipped, "are there any more friends you're hiding? We can use all the help we can get."

"What the fuck?" Leo blurted, stepping out to her side as he angrily gestured at Sarah. "Don't tell me you actually _believe_ this shit? They'll say anything they want!"

Within seconds, what vitality was left in the young woman was completely drained, and exhaustion seeped from every part of her posture. "I don't have the luxury to turn help away, no matter why they're here. They've had plenty of chances to prove they're a threat and they haven't. I just want to find the Institute, and I'll do it with or without Blue."

"I believe I can help with that," Sarah offered, settling back into her old stoic and business-like self. Part of Luki was still wary as to which direction this was all going to head now, and the other part was utterly relieved that they wouldn't have to _hide_ and wait for secret meetings to be with each other again. "I've investigated and gathered intel on the organization that call themselves the Railroad."

Piper gawked in surprise. "They aren't just rumors? They're _real?_"

Luki gawked in surprise for an entirely different reason. "When did you even have the time to do this?"

Sarah simply smirked at him. Ten years later, and she _still_ terrified him. She looked back at Piper. "They're real, and I'm willing to bet they'll have the means to decrypt the information on the chip attached to those wires you've got."

"Chip?" Piper arched her brow, then dug in her satchel until she extracted the wires and inspected them. The chip was minuscule, and Luki started to sweat nervously the more confident and commanding Sarah had grown. "When did you even-?"

"It's best not to ask those questions," Luki blurted, "because those answers are scary."

Sarah laughed, pleasant and light; it had been so long since he'd heard it and it lifted his heart - only for it to fall when Leo scoffed and sneered. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and stormed out the room, ignoring Piper when she called out for him to stay. Exasperated, she sucked in a slow breath as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Luki and Sarah exchanged concerned looks but neither made a move to chase after Leo. Sarah stepped close to Piper as she lowered her voice. "He's our mission - we're to watch over and protect him, and we would appreciate it if you maintained that secret."

Piper's brow pinched in confusion as she looked at Luki, and he smiled meekly. "I've always sucked at following her orders."

"And why _Leo?_" Horror suddenly dawned on Piper's face. "Please don't tell me that guy is like some sort of key to saving the world from imminent destruction."

"No, nothing of that sort. Could you imagine?" Luki chuckled, wincing when Sarah drilled her elbow into his ribs - his _burned_ side.

"I'll answer only as much as the information is necessary to you," Sarah stated bluntly, "otherwise, it is our business. You can rest assured that it will not conflict with your mission to infiltrate the Institute." That didn't seem to satisfy Piper judging by her frown, and though Luki could empathize, he followed Sarah's lead for a reason. There was no other commander he would ever rather serve. "Be thankful I've decided to come to you with the truth in good faith, rather than allowing Luki to spin a lie. That we're trusting you to maintain the secrecy of our mission should say much of our commitment to make this partnership work - it's a mutually beneficial relationship."

Silence stretched between them as Piper took a few steps back, her gaze flicking between the two. Assessing for threats? Reviewing the information, to determine if there were any holes in their story? It was a lot to take on in good faith, especially when Luki had basically indirectly confessed that he had - at least partially - been lying up to this point. He didn't know if it would help, but he turned to Sarah and reached into her shirt through her collar, grabbing her to keep her close when she tried to swat him away.

"Not the time!" Sarah hissed, until she saw what he'd pulled out of her shirt.

_His _holotags.

"This is why I'm here to help," he stated, grasping the holotags he wore in his other hand. _Sarah's._ "It began with the General, and I couldn't imagine what it would be like if I lost Sarah the way he lost his family. Then I met you. I saw how much you've been hurting too, and I've kept thinking to myself _what if that was me?_ If it's hard to believe our story, then believe in this." He beat a fist against his heart. "No matter how harrowing the odds: leave no man behind. The Sergeant _will_ come home, and we will put an end to the Institute once and for all. They aren't just a threat to the Commonwealth; their influence stretches beyond that. I've had dealings with them back in the Capital Wasteland as well."

Sarah's head snapped to him at that. "What? You never told me this."

Piper all too eagerly rolled over the desk chair to the bed and patted the mattress, whipping out her notepad. "And you are going to tell me _everything._"

"Uh..." Luki smiled nervously as he took his seat, and Sarah stood in front of him with crossed arms. His gaze flickered between the two frightening women. After everything he had ever survived in his life, and still it was formidable women like this that had scared his _nightmares_ away. He winced when he'd bent too far over on the side and glanced down at his injuries, then up at them. "I mean, I'll survive... But this hurts. _A lot._ Any chance I can take care of this first?"

"**No**," they replied in perfect synchrony. His head dropped in defeat.

Women really _were_ happy to stab him.


	5. How the Mighty Have Fallen

_**[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE**__**]**__**  
Chapter 5: How the Mighty Have Fallen**_

* * *

Piper sucked in a long breath after she closed her door, turning to lean against it. Her eyes slipped shut and information buzzed in her brain. Capital Wasteland. Harkness. Dr. Zimmer. She watched Sarah's reactions and expressions just as much as Luki's after he closed his eyes to recant his old tale, groping and struggling to fill in the missing memory gaps.

Suffice to say, he was in hot water with Sarah.

Piper stripped her trench coat after she grabbed a pack of cigarettes, heading over to the window to open it and lean against the sill as she smoked. The tendrils whisked away, the orange glow a comfort, but it all felt hollow as a sinful emotion nagged her. The more Luki and Sarah got comfortable around the reporter, the more they reached out to each other in subtle ways, and the more Piper wished she could do the same. Or explode. She took the cigarette out of her mouth as she dipped the ashes outside, looking up at the night sky. Her lips struggled to curl in a strained smile when her thoughts wandered to the night Garrett was 'just kidding'.

There was going to be more hell to pay for that, even if he made up for it afterwards. It still made her blood boil and that was enough for her. She lit one cigarette after another until she finished a whole pack, sorting through all the notes she could scribble down until her hand ached from it all. Most of it were small details, probably not even important - but she hoped every little thing would eventually paint the bigger picture.

Luki's muffled cuss broke her from her reverie and she pulled back from the sill to stare at the door, chuckling when she heard Sarah in the room across the hallway. "Oh, quit being a baby! You've survived worse than this."

"But this _hurts..._"

That was the second time Piper's heard he survived worse, and she was honestly starting to grow frightened of the two. She got snippets of their endeavors when she derailed Luki from his story about the Institute, though Sarah was sharp enough to figure out what the reporter was trying to do, and immediately redirected Luki back to Harkness.

How were they supposed to trust each other when a lot of things were still shrouded in secret? And what the heck did Leo have to do with whatever mission they were supposedly on? Piper's curiosity had a penchant for keeping her up at night, but she had to focus. She went back to her notepad and flipped through the pages as she digested every note, trying to connect the dots.

Nowhere did it ever hint where the Institute was located.

Frustration built the longer she stared at her notes, and eventually she gave up. She snuffed out her cigarette and hid her notepad in her back pocket as she strode to bed. Her cheeks warmed when she swore she caught a stifled moan in Leo's room. That didn't take him long. Piper groaned when thuds knocked against the wall and creaks shot out; there was no way she was going to get any sleep tonight. She donned her jacket and slipped out, heading to the room across from hers where Luki cursed like never before. She steeled herself as she gently rapped her knuckles on the door.

"Um... Sorry to bother you two, but I'm going to head down to the Rail and have a couple of drinks." Translation: mooch freebies. "I should be back within the hour."

Hopefully Leo would be... _Done..._ By then.

Before she had a chance to leave, Sarah opened the door and gestured inside. "Put yourself to use instead. I'm almost done cleaning his wounds, but we still have to bandage them." The reporter chewed her lip and looked down the hallway when a significantly louder moan broke through the walls, and Sarah sighed. "We've got a radio in here." Her piercing eyes narrowed, cold as ice. "It's the least you can do for him. He _did_ save you."

"If she doesn't want to-" Luki started, but trailed off and smiled nervously when Sarah simply turned her head to look at him.

"Can you teach me how to do that? Garrett never shuts up even when I ask him to." Piper blurted, cringing when the stoic gaze snapped back to her. She was sure Sarah was a lovely woman, and probably _somewhat_ friendly, but everything she was doing was screaming _stay the hell away._

And then Sarah smiled.

"Get your ass in here already then, civilian."

"Civilian?" Piper huffed, her chest puffing as she confidently strode inside. "Last I checked, you're one too. You _did_ say you're not with the Brotherhood anymore."

"Oh, she's got you there, Sarah," Luki chuckled. It immediately stopped when Sarah turned her head to him again. That sweet smile of hers was enough to turn a giant of a man into a baby as Sarah approached him, and he scrambled backwards on the bed as he held out his hand. "Wait, wait! I surrender!"

"I don't take prisoners," Sarah lilted; make no mistake, she may have looked unimposing, but this woman could definitely give a deathclaw a run for it's caps.

Conflicting feelings brewed in Piper again, and she leaned against the wall as she watched, however awkward, as Sarah commanded the situation with ease and treated the man who clearly wasn't just a 'friend' or subordinate. Jealousy sparked and Piper averted her gaze to the ceiling as she closed her eyes before she witnessed Luki leaning up to kiss the woman in a valiant effort to disarm her.

Tears burned hot, and Piper nibbled on her tongue as she suppressed the urge to scream. It was only a few days ago where she was horsing around with Garrett in the same way.

What if she never _got_ to ever again?

Desperation gnarled around her heart, and though she wished to bark at them to get a move on and head to the Railroad right this second, no matter how foolish, she bit her tongue and tried to focus on facts as her brain continued to demystify the puzzles in her notepad. If only everybody else could understand what it felt like to be in her shoes; this whole city went about their day as if it was nothing special, and yet her whole world had fundamentally changed because of one missing person.

Moans and laughter bled out to the white noise and the memories, but she was snapped out of it by a gentle hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked down - on the verge of tears - as _Sarah_ quietly offered a ratty rag. "Sorry," she murmured stiffly, as if she wasn't used to saying it. Piper didn't need any more hints than she had already gotten to figure the ex-soldier didn't seem the type to apologize - and the gesture was appreciated, even if all she wanted was to get out of here.

Piper waved it off and strained a smile as she accepted the rag and wiped her eyes, sucking in a deep breath. It was forced out of her when Sarah held up a stimpak with a sinister smirk. "Torturing him always helps me feel better."

"Now wait just a minute! Haven't I gone through enough?" Luki protested, an exasperated look and hand out in surrender again. Piper chuckled as she took the stimpak and walked over, still caught in a slight daze, though thoroughly amused the giant had even whimpered to this degree; he could easily break both of their bones. Such a baby - as big of a baby as Garrett. She sat on the bed and stared at the stimpak, her memories drifting again.

"You're always trying so hard to cheer me up," she mumbled. "You don't really think we'll get to him in time, do you? So much of it has already passed."

Silence reigned down on the room, and Piper chewed her lip as she closed her eyes before more tears fell. Air was sucked right out of her chest and it felt as if a truck was sitting on her lungs. "The worst part is... I'm surviving, and it's hurting less each day. I don't _want_ that. I don't want to accept the possibility that he's already dead and just start moving on. Things were finally starting to look up and get good between us, and now it's all gone. Just like that. I don't even know where my sister is, or how she feels - I mean, I can imagine what she wants to say and how angry she is right now, but..."

Words tumbled out and she hadn't even known where she was going with her rambling. She pent up everything, rotting inside - or trying to even when it had forced it's way out. The weight of anguish hurt worse than any bullet or cut she had ever suffered. She set the stimpak aside and buried her head in her hands as a dejected sigh tumbled out. "I just wish he was here. I don't care how, or if he drove me crazy, or if we argued, or... I just wish he was _here, _or around somewhere. Then at least I'd know he's alive and safe."

All Luki could do was offer meager reassurance as he squeezed her shoulder. Sarah hadn't done anything - not that Piper expected her to, since they were still strangers to each other; but it was surprising the woman hadn't just snapped at her for being a 'soft civilian' or something like that. Not yet.

"Stop wishing for it." Sarah's cold words cut, and Luki sucked in a sharp inhale. Piper bit her lip harder - she spoke too soon. She didn't need to look at him to figure he probably disapproved; it sparked curiosity with how their relationship even worked, but then again, the same question could be asked of her and Garrett. They were opposites that just somehow melded seamlessly.

Boots marched and anger nearly guided Piper's temper when a stern hand wrapped around her wrist and tore it away from her face; but there was a fiery determination emblazoned in Sarah's eyes. "Stop wishing for it," she repeated, "get your ass up and start _doing_ something about it. Crying isn't going to bring him home."

Moans turned into screams of euphoria, as if things weren't already awkward enough. Piper flushed fiercely when both Leo and whoever he took to bed with him became _crystal clear_ to hear above the radio, and Luki's head dropped in defeat. Sarah was out the room before he could even finish saying: "don't do it."

Both grimaced at the sounds of Sarah pounding the door and yelling in the hallway, to which was eventually met with Leo yelling back - and refusing to come out to face Sarah's fury. Luki sighed, but halfway it turned into a chuckle. Piper exchanged meek smiles with him until they both started laughing, and she was comforted by the warm sounds as he gently squeezed her shoulder. He patted it before he reached over for the stimpak and held it out to her. "Torturing me will help you feel better."

"Oh, stop it," Piper sniggered, "god. You two are so made for each other, it's scary."

"I know, right?" His lopsided grin eagerly grew into a proud one, and he took a quick deep breath before he injected the stimpak into his ribs. His gaze grew distant, staring into space. "It's been ten years. Crazy how fast time flies... But we haven't always been together."

"Because she's had to keep her distance?"

"Yes... And no." Luki glanced at the doorway, probably to gauge how _safe_ he was. "Sometimes she has difficulty staying close - as you've just witnessed. So she leaves. I still don't really know why. She's never been afraid of being hurt, so I guess she just feels awkward and doesn't know what to do with it. She's a great commander, but she leads in battle; not in conversation."

"But that's where you come in," Piper noted quietly. "Kind of like me and Garrett. I handle the talking. He does the leading. Sort of." She looked up at the ceiling in thought at that, humming. "Actually, no. He doesn't. He just made me 'the Boss' and that's it. He squeezed the trigger, I guess, but so did I." These roles were undefined in her mind, and that was the beginning of what was about to drive her nuts all night. Her nose wrinkled in dissatisfaction.

"Sounds like you're confusing yourself," Luki lilted with great amusement, and he pushed off the bed as he went to go rummage in a knapsack that wasn't hers or Leo's. He pulled out a first aid kit and set it aside on the table, navigating it's contents with ease as he began to apply ointment on his burns. That he remained calm at all for such a drastic injury had to mean he had some sort of medical training, right? Had to. People just weren't like that, no matter how tough they were. There had to be some sort of reason he avoided applying gauze and bandages. Her musing was cut short when she noticed he was smiling to himself.

"So the Sergeant's name was Garrett, huh?"

"Oh, shit," she blurted, her hand coming up over her mouth. Realization dawned. It wasn't the first time she'd used Gat's real name - but that wasn't the biggest blunder here. She knew Luki knew it too, when he suddenly froze and his gaze snapped up to hers, his green eyes full of sorrow instead of life. Piper fidgeted and ran her sweaty palms along her pants as she burned holes in the floor, her mumble falling with her heart.

"_Was..._"

**x - x - x**

Remnants of what was were scattered about. This place was trashed and abandoned for some time now, with how there was nearly nothing left. Gat was surprised to see the furniture was still here. He walked around the office with a heavy heart, steeling himself as he went to search Nat's room first. Some of the dresser's drawers were open and empty; good, Piper got the kid out of here too, as he suspected.

What was he supposed to do? They were both just doing what they had to, to survive - to ensure their family's survival too. Bringing Piper back would spell a death sentence for both her and Nat. He wouldn't be able to stomach adopting that little girl for what he had to do to her older sister.

So much for keeping his promise to bring Rose here, so that the two young'uns could play.

There weren't any clues in the house as far as he could see. The terminal was wiped. Piper's room was in the same disarray as Nat's, and there was no food or ammo to be scoured. To find her, he would have to get _out_ of her head, and into another's; there was no way she had any safehouses of her own. Not with how much she had panicked the time they were locked out of the city.

No. He had to get in Cowboy's head, or the other 'Minutemen'. Leo and Luki would have just followed orders as they always have. Where would Cowboy take them? To a settlement?

Time was running out; Gat couldn't afford to go on a chase all over the Commonwealth. It would _take_ him a week to capture Piper, now that she was undoubtedly on high alert and extra cautious. He slithered back outside in the dead of the night and wandered the marketplace. The bitch who ambushed him with her goons wasn't here anymore; if Piper escaped - hopefully with the help of the others, and no injuries - then that better mean the bitch was dead. It gave him a new idea of where to search at least.

Before he left the city, he went to the chapel. He tugged the brim of his army hat lower to block his eyes as he entered and silently took the first pew he saw. He felt others staring at him, and it made him incredibly uncomfortable. There probably wasn't any merit in this; the large part of him screamed that this was utterly stupid and a waste of time, but...

Piper defined what hope meant, and that thread of it in his heart was enough to try whatever the hell he had to. He had forgotten how to pray, though - not that he had ever properly learned of it, since it was always just pleading for some God to save him. If there was a God, why would He let all this happen? Maybe He was punishing Gat - that was understandable; but Piper and her sister didn't deserve any of this. They were good people and they should be rewarded for it.

Someone sat beside him, and it only made him feel even more awkward. He hunched forward and clasped his hands together as he rested his forehead on them. Something poked his ribs the moment a low voice flooded his ear. "Awfully convenient timing of you to come back. You're real calm to find out that she's packed up and left."

"_Cowboy,_" Gat spat under his breath. "Put your gun away. Ain't mannerly of ya to shoot up God's house, innit?"

"Outside. Now."

"Guards will shoot ya up if y'don't put that back in your holster."

"I'll be fine. No need to _concern_ yourself with me." Cowboy rose with his gun pointed, taking off his hat and bowing it in apology towards the Pastor. "Sorry, for apprehending this man here, Father."

Gat sighed and stormed out before he heard another word of this goodie two-shoe - _two-face_ \- shite. He was met with another gun clicking beside his head as the hammer was cocked back. A quick glance from the corner of the eyes revealed a synth. The synth. The _spy._ Had to be, but he couldn't afford to blow his cover; it was something he would have to ask Adam when he reported on today's findings.

"Nice to see you again too, 'Nick'."

Nick didn't say anything back and guards looked the other way; it seemed this detective had a legitimate standing here. Cold metal limbs wrapped around Gat's elbow, but he ripped it away, glowering not to be touched. Nick jerked his head towards Piper's home. "Get in there, then. We have a lot to catch up on."

"Yeah, for sure, _'mate'_. 'Cause I don't remember anythin' that'd warrant guns pointing at my head."

Nick smirked. "From what I've heard, you're used to it." What? When did he hear this, and from _who?_ "Now get moving."

This hostility didn't bode well. Gat complied, but only so that he could find out if Piper was okay.

...What did it matter, anyways?

He was the reason she _wouldn't_ be.

**x - x - x**

Sarah groaned as she marched back into the room, narrowing her eyes when Luki smiled as he patted the empty spot beside him on the bed. She didn't need to be told twice. "Wipe that off before I do it _for_ you - like Leo," she huffed, looking around the room. "She left?"

"Yeah, said she was just going for a drink or two."

"We should be moving out-"

"And also said she'd like to try to get some rest tonight." Luki pushed up on his elbows and chuckled at what that answer did to her, and she crossed her arms. "Now before you keep making that look - we _all_ need it. It's been a while since we've gotten anything decent, and it's starting to affect them. Her more than most."

"You, too," Sarah quietly noted, taking long strides before she dove over him and crashed on the bed; an immediate regret, when the frame buckled on the side, and she groaned all the way as she rolled right off the slope. His mirth corrupted her world, and though she should have rectified that, she found herself smiling and diving back with even more force - and on him. The bed's legs split and caved underneath, leveling the old thing. "There. Now we're even." She slithered up his side and propped herself up on an arm, looking down at him - at his injuries, and how most of his tattoos were swallowed by the healing burns. She worried her lip and pointed her chin to his ribs. "How are you... Dealing with that?"

"I'm _feeling_ fine." There was a subtle lilt in his tone, and she narrowed her eyes at him in warning. He just smiled it all away. "When all this is over, we can go back to D.C. and I'll just get it redone." On scarred tissue? She didn't need to have his medical know-how to know that was a bad idea. "Looks pretty badass already though, don't you think? Do you like it?"

"Oh, sure, _very_ badass. Can't be a real bona fide soldier without some grizzly scars that look as life-threatening as it was." Sarah rolled her eyes, drifting into the distance as the haunting memories burned at the forefront of her mind. She trailed a finger up and down his torso, whispering. "I don't like it. Don't ever do that ever again. Civilians just have to learn how to fend for themselves, like how you did."

"Sarah..." His soft tone cut deeper into her than any knife or bullet ever would, and she honestly had felt a twinge of _guilt_ for her words. She pushed it aside.

"_No._ I almost lost you over a ghost chase," she mumbled; strength and authority rapidly whittled away from her voice. "And why didn't you brief me on Zimmer?"

"Well, it wasn't really relevant to the mission with Project Purity, or the war against the Enclave. The Institute in D.C. wasn't a threat like they are here." He wormed his good arm beneath her shoulders and brought her close, encouraging her to lay on his side. Ten years, and she still felt this weird little bloom in her chest whenever he did things like this. She rested her head on the junction of where his shoulder met his pec, drumming her fingers over his sternum as she hummed in acknowledgment.

"A fair point. I suppose I'll forgive you." She paused, smirking up at him. "For now." His tender chuckles did _things_ to her that demanded retribution. She sat up and swung her leg over him, hovering safely over his thighs so as not to antagonize his burned hip. She was going to turn this gentle giant into a ravenous beast - and give Leo a taste of his medicine. She ran a finger down Luki's torso again, until it landed squarely between his hips, waiting until she felt something twitch to life beneath the confines of his cargos. A sinful glint burned bright in his emerald eyes; it always made her think of trees and life, just like the Oasis.

It was almost terrifying, how much larger than life he had become.

"Is this part two of earning your forgiveness, Commander?" Luki whispered huskily, broad hands stroking up the sides of her thighs. She answered by taking off her shirt and leaned to rest her hands on each side of his head, her holotags swinging between them. She giggled - only he was ever allowed to hear that sound from her and get to stay _a__live_ \- when he sat up to catch them between his teeth. Her core flexed to keep her in the air as she reached for his hands to interlace their fingers together, guiding his arms up as she lowered to sit on the soldier at attention; but when his burned arm and ribs stretched, he grimaced and hissed.

"Shit, sorry," Sarah immediately let go and leaned back, but he held her hips down before she got off.

"Don't be. We finally get to stay together instead of apart, and I don't care what you do to me tonight. I'm at your command." He came up and hooked a hand under the curve of her jaw, kissing from her lips, down to the valley between her breasts. "What's your first order?" She buried her hands in his hair and her head lulled back, trying - and failing - to think of what she had wanted to do first. A ragged breath kicked against her lungs as old feelings and desires and seductive _power _resurfaced. It had been too long since they've finally gotten to kiss; nevermind this part.

And then the door opened.

Sarah was the first to dive off him, landing on her back on the bed as she simultaneously drew a concealed .32 from her hip. She nearly squeezed the trigger until she saw who the blushing face was, gawking at the door. _Piper._ "I-I'm so sorry," she blurted, tumbling and stammering like a broken record. "I didn't, I mean, oh my god, it is really hot in here... I forgot about the bottle... The bottle..."

Sarah's hands _shook_ as she resisted the horrible urge of shooting this damn civilian's face off; especially when Piper seemed broken, repeating 'bottle' over and over again.

"What the hell did you even come in here for? What happened to drinking?!" Sarah barked, and glared at Luki when he started laughing. She punched his shoulder, but didn't lower her gun just to make Piper sweat in revenge. She deserved it. Sarah never got an answer though. The poor reporter hastily slammed the door shut as she escaped, cusses still heard beyond the walls in her own room.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Luki teased when Sarah flopped on the bed dejectedly, pistol forgotten. She narrowed her eyes at him and punched his shoulder again.

"Just for that, we've never having sex ever again."

"W-what? You're not serious, are you?" He panicked when she didn't answer. Good. Served him right. Let him sweat in revenge, too. "Sarah. Come on. _Are you?_"

Sarah smirked devilishly. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen."


	6. If You Can't Beat 'Em

_**[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE**__**]  
Chapter 6: If You Can't Beat 'Em  
**_

* * *

Gat burned through his cigarettes as if he had minutes left to live. He fed Cowboy and 'Detective' lies, but he knew they were feeding him lies too; Piper left of her own volition, upset that he had, especially when the mayor of the city threatened to turn her and her little sister out - so was it the mayor or his fault? Get the story straight. Now Piper and Nat were together at some settlement and set up a new shop there.

Embers glowed brightly as Gat sucked on the smoke to stop himself from calling their bluff. It wasn't hard for him to play the part as if he was distressed and heartbroken, his leg racing as he massaged his forehead. He snuffed out his smoke and sucked a deep breath in.

Other than their little discrepancy, their lies were solid - but he needed to buy what they were selling in order for them to buy his. He kicked up his leg over his knee as he relaxed on the couch. "I get she don't wanna see me no more, but I wanna see she's okay with my own eyes. Y'both can tell me whatever the fuck you want and she could be dead in a ditch, for all I know."

"You didn't seem to care about that when you left," Cowboy muttered, and Gat struggled to let these jabs pass without passing a hook of his own. And failed.

"I didn't come back for a pissin' contest. I had my reasons for leaving."

Reasons he deeply regretted on a number of fronts; but he knew it would have all come down to this sooner or later, anyways. There was no way he would have been able to protect his family from the Institute with the technology they have at their disposal. It was just a matter of time - a ticking bomb - when he painted the bullseye on his back the moment he freed Piper from captivity. And it was just a matter of time - another ticking bomb - until he would bring her back into captivity.

"Even if you ain't gonna take me to her, I'll find her."

"What part of _she doesn't want to see you_ don't you get?" Cowboy growled, and Gat sighed as he pushed himself off the couch. The _detective_ blocked the exit - good thing there was more than one. Gat stepped out to the side to head out through the trailer, but Nick blocked the other exit. Cowboy came up from behind, his gun drawn. He jerked his head to the door. "You want proof? I'll give it to you - after you surrender your weapons."

Not taking chances. Good. At least he had good instincts - at least he still remembered how to protect. Not like Gat; and it hit him that he had never even thought to ask or look for Cowboy's family inside the Institute. It could have been the leverage, the piece of information that would unlock the door to trust and lead him straight to Piper.

Honestly, he was just going by the fly of his pants, anyways.

Gat slung a protective arm on his duffel bag. "Piss off. All of my babies have been collected for _years._ I ain't handin' them over to ya just 'cause you can't find and fix your own shite."

"I'm not going to use them," Cowboy groaned exasperatedly, running a hand through his luscious black hair; it just wasn't normal to have hair like that. Too perfect. Fucking pre-war... Knob jockey... _Cowboy. _"It's a reasonable request to ensure not just Nick and I's safety, but Piper and the settlement as well. Due to extenuating circumstances-"

The hell did extenuating mean? Where was Piper when he needed her?

Oh. Right. Probably _not_ a good idea for her to be near him right now.

"-you are deemed high risk and a threat. Your weapons will be returned to you thereafter. It's Piper or the guns, _Gunner._"

Fantastic. His own nickname; one he wasn't entirely thrilled about, but it was still better than Asshole. At least, from Piper's mouth. He didn't care who else it came from.

"Alright. Say I turn over my guns... You'll let me see her?" Gat narrowed his eyes in suspicion and protectively hugged his bag of guns when Cowboy nodded. As bad as it all was, he couldn't squash his hope of just seeing her one more time - but squashed the _need_ to kiss her; he couldn't afford to have that kind of attachment.

Why?

It wasn't like he had any humanity left to scavenge anymore.

This was for his family. That was all he could keep trying to sell himself, but he couldn't buy his own bullshit. Time ticked excruciatingly slow and he lit one last cigarette, struggling to _willingly_ surrender his guns. "The things I do for that barmy bird," he muttered as he laid the duffel bag on the floor and turned away, just so that he wouldn't see his babies go. He could have sworn the synth rolled his weird glowing eyes. Also not normal. None of them were normal. Nick was a horrible reminder, though - a reality check.

...That Gat wasn't normal anymore, either.

**x - x - x**

Luki struggled not to smile when Sarah slung her leg over his thighs, and looked down to watch his sleeping beauty. He reached over and gently brushed a few strands of hair out her face, tucking it behind her ear. It still astonished him to this day how sleep had the capability to make even the more terrifying of _dangers_ to appear so peaceful and at ease. He only wished she allowed herself to be that way when she was awake, too.

"You've been through a lot," he whispered tenderly, craning his neck to reach and kiss her forehead. He cradled her close to his side, the larger part of him empathizing with the woman who had this ripped away from her because of her work. He could imagine it happening to him and Sarah, but he didn't want to. He didn't want to lose her again, and again, and again - all because of missions and a job that was never done. There were always going to be people who needed saving.

"You've been through a lot too," came a sleepy murmur. He looked down and saw glinting eyes in the darkness, smiling when Sarah drummed her fingers on his chest. "What's on your mind? You need to ignore it to catch up on sleep. I'm kicking everybody's asses out of bed at oh-500, sharp."

Luki nibbled on the inside of his lip. He couldn't ignore this; not when this was probably the only time he'd get to debrief with Sarah on a personal note, before she went on full mission mode and took charge of an operation she was likely going to create soon. He adjusted the arm she used as a pillow and curled it around her a little more, tracing a fingertip up and down her ribs. He turned his head and buried his mouth in her hair. "I can't ignore this."

Tension rippled above him as her muscles locked down. She was in an unknown territory - consequently 'Ground Zero' within her mind, no doubt. "What can't you ignore?"

Hesitance marked every hitch and pitch of her tone. He took a deep breath and braced himself for what was likely going to be a hurtful conversation, but he couldn't cast it out of his mind for another day. "What's our future, Sarah?"

"I dunno," came the fast reply, a clear indicator that she was reacting and not thinking. "I'm a soldier, not a psychic."

Disappointment weighed Luki's heart down. It was always so damn hard to broach anything like this with her - and while he understood, and waited, and accommodated, and... He couldn't wait a day longer. He grabbed his holotags - hers, technically, and brought it between their faces so that the little blue screen illuminated enough of her for him to study her expressions.

"You know, back in the Vault, we had something called the G.O.A.T exam. _Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test. _Everybody was required to take it at 16, to determine their role and job in the vault. At the time I dreaded it, but I liked having a bit of certainty in the future." He smiled when her brow arched and she rose up to fold her arms on his chest, looking down at him in horror. "Hey, I'd say it's not that different from the Brotherhood."

"We still got to choose _how_ to serve, though, and got to change paths. A cook could apply to be a scribe." The corner of her lip curled in amusement. "And a physician could apply to be a soldier, to chase after his crush on the battlefield instead of a building."

"And protect her, of course."

"Of course, sure; in your dreams, anyways." Sarah laughed, shaking her head. "God, I lost count how many times I had to save your ass. It turned out in the end, yeah, and you've become a better soldier since then." She looked at him with a growing mischievous smirk. "Well, some days that's debatable."

"Hey!"

"But I remembered how annoyed I was; I didn't know what my father was thinking when he assigned you to the Pride. Sentimentality's sake because of Project Purity, I guess."

No. He repeatedly begged to be in her unit - at least as a field medic - after she woke up from her coma. A secret he guarded close to his heart. He hated helplessly watching the way she struggled with rehabilitation, especially when it was because of that blasted project that had done that to her. Never again. Not if he could help it.

"Point is: you got to decide which road to take, Luki. The future changes _anyways,_ regardless if you choose it or have it assigned to you." Sarah unfolded her arms and sat up, the darkness shrouding most of her, except the outline of her lean body. A lump grew in his throat and his mouth ran dry when the holotags illuminated her stomach. Her hands made thinking _harder - _fogging up the path he'd even wanted to take with this conversation - as she ran down his torso, the edge of her finger trailing over the ridges and grooves of his abs. "But instead of exercising your brain every day, you chose to train rigorously with your body. You chose to deliver shots with a rifle instead of a syringe. Not many get that liberty to, in life; apparently not in vaults either. What were you even supposed to be? Probably a doctor, like with us."

"Actually, I was to become the vault's chaplain," he croaked, licking his lips when her finger ghosted down to rest between his hips. Sarah's throaty laughter did _things_ to him. Her weight settled on his hips and she sat on his groin, leaning down until he could see a shadowy smile right up at his face. She rolled her hips and a show of white teeth broke the darkness.

"Mm, yeah, I can see you as one," she sniggered. "_Could,_ rather. Not anymore. Definitely not right now..." He bit back a groan when the friction converted all that pent up tension into pleasure within seconds, and he wanted nothing more than the release he hadn't had in who knew how many months - even by his own hand. She lowered and tenderly nipped the good _unburned_ side of his neck, husking. "Most nights I watched and waited until you fell asleep, before I would. You've been saving yourself." She hooked a finger on his holotags and twisted them. "Just like the beginning. Don't you know better than to do that to me? You made me feel guilty - and frustrated - when I couldn't do the same."

A simple admission that aroused him to no end, but one he couldn't truthfully claim the same. "That's not true. I did it a couple times too."

"A couple?" Sarah laughed again, enunciating it with a hard bite. "God, you're such a goodie two-shoes. If only you knew how often I did." She undid his zipper and reached between the flap of his boxers, and it sent tingles washing over his entire body as her fingers wrapped around his girth. He bucked against her hand when she stroked roughly, forcing her tongue in his mouth. He tried to take her hand away - wanting to please her first - and she let go completely, sitting up. He could perfectly imagine what kind of expression she was making just by her impatient tone. "What are you doing?"

"_Ladies,_" he rasped, wincing and swallowing to soothe his parched throat. "Ladies first."

"Manners? Now?" Sarah sighed. "You're hurt. Badly. You're in no shape tonight, not unless you want to rip your scabs open and bleed all over. Just let me do this for you."

"No. I want to be able to share this moment with you or not at all if it's just me, Sarah." He grabbed his holotags and rattled them, his next words thick on his tongue, nervous of how she was going to react to this. "My vow. I haven't changed it and I don't plan on ever changing it."

Silence reigned down and Sarah tensed on him again. It seemed to click, but it didn't click in the place he wished it could. His heart fell when she slowly laid down on his side, and he hastily adjusted himself, zipping up his pants. The entire atmosphere shifted and weighed down the moment his hand fell, and she blurted. "I don't see myself as anything but a soldier in my future."

Luki closed his eyes and smiled sadly, whispering. "_I know._"

"Then why are you still here? If you're not happy-"

"I never said I'm not."

"Clearly you are, if you keep bringing this up." Was it wrong to desire some certainty? "I'm not some woman who's going to settle down and pop out a vault full of kids."

"I never expected that either, Sarah. I just want to know our future. _Us._ To know if you'll be and _stay_ a part of my future. If we split up again..."

"We have a mission - to find out how to infiltrate the Institute - and your biggest concern right now is if we're dating or not?"

"_Married,_" Luki reminded, feeling the beginnings of frustration and despair, now that he knew where this was going to go.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Sarah grumbled something and her head fell on his chest. "If you really consider swapping holotags _marriage._"

One deep breath. He took it, clung to it, closing his eyes as he tried to hold on to patience. This wasn't the first time she was hasty with her words, and she often proved to bear an immense amount of guilt. It took forever for her to forgive herself; if only she understood and considered his feelings just as much as he did for her. If only she understood his desire for her to acknowledge that they were together, or if he should break things off between them to stop this cycle where they only hurt each other more than they had added to the other's life.

Terrifying, it was. It hurt just to think about ending things; he was too scared to do it. Not after everything they had been through, and survived - but it had been ten years, and some days he felt as if there was still another part of her locked away, defending it at all costs. Even from him.

"I'm not the enemy, Sarah." He ran his hand down her side to rest on her hip. "If you don't consider our vows and swapping holotags as marriage, then let's-"

"We don't have time," she interjected gently; it still hurt to hear, however rare such softness from her even was. "I hear you, and I understand, but the fact of the matter is: we still have a job. There's just no way we can run off and find - what would we even need to make it 'official'? A priest? D.C. is a week away on foot; and that's pure logistics, not counting about who knows what we'll run into in the wasteland. We just can't afford to leave for Rivet City right now."

At least she was thinking about this and planning it at all. That was a hopeful sign.

"After our mission with the Institute is over, then." Luki twisted until she had rolled off of him and on to her back. "We come clean with Leo - no ifs, ands, or buts. We've stalled enough and life is too short to keep on the way we have." He hovered over her side, claiming her lips as he whispered ever so tenderly. "I'm marrying you, Sarah Lyons. And I'm taking _your_ name." He would suffer no protest and silenced the risk of them as he kissed her ardently, propping himself up with his bad arm so that he could touch her with his good hand; she deserved nothing less. Her breath hitched and she angled her hips towards him when he undid her belt, slipping inside her pants to touch her. He smirked when she gasped, but only after he made his new vow.

"One day, in _our_ future, we will make the Brotherhood of Steel revere the Lyons just as much as the Maxsons."

**x - x - x**

Knocks alerted Piper and she shot up in her bed, cringing at the series of creaks that sung a little tune along the way. So much for subterfuge. She rolled out of bed and took her pistol out it's holster, hiding it behind her hip as she stuffed it in her waistband. She approached the door warily as she called out. "Who is it?"

"Leo," came the miserable croak. She chewed her lip, not _really_ wanting to open the door, but curiosity and concern betrayed her. She took a deep breath to steel herself and opened the door, frowning. The slim man hadn't the decency to wear a shirt - not that he even seemed to be _aware_ of it, with how bloodshot his eyes were and how much his breath had reeked of alcohol. He invited himself in without waiting for her to even step aside or say anything. For some reason, something kept rustling and clacking in the now-bulging pockets of his pants. Were those bullets or what? She never paid attention before.

Everything screamed at her to just kick this man out and be done with it, but the way he moped just on the walk to her bed called out to the humanity and concern inside of her. She tried to bury that voice, to reason that he wouldn't do this for her, but it won over her. She set her pistol on the desk and cautiously took a chair to sit across from him.

"Is everything alright, Leo?"

"No," he mumbled, laying down and turning to face the wall. Great. He was going to stink up her noisy bed too. "Nothing is even close to being alright."

Silence weighed the mood down and dragged even her down to a sullen degree; she tried to chalk it up to the sleep she wasn't going to be getting any time soon, but the part that had actually _worried_ over this decrepit man still won over. God, if Garrett were here, he'd probably just shoot Leo and say it was a mercy kill to end his miserable existence.

The idea was tempting.

"What am I doing with my life?" Leo inquired, reluctantly rolling back towards her. "Chems, booze and women used to be enough to help me get through the night, especially if I'm pissed off. Even gambled a bit with what little we had and won a ton." He fished in his pockets and out spilled handfuls of caps; that explained the clacking. Her eyes lit up at just how much he had actually won when she saw nuka-quantum caps in the mix. Where was this wonderful gift when they all needed it?

"I'm impressed, that's a lot," she noted, arching her brow up at him. Her heart sank when he just shrugged sullenly. She took a moment to think on what questions would help him find the answer for himself more than simply answering her; she still didn't expect him to be wholly truthful, but apparently he surprisingly possessed the capability to actually _reflect_ on himself. "If this is something you've always done, then why are you questioning it now? Why do you think it's not helping you tonight?"

Leo stared at her, and she wondered if he was even in a state where he could fully comprehend her - much less remember their conversation when morning light broke through those windows. He turned again to face away from her and she smiled at just how sulky he was. Another big baby - well, much scrawnier than the other two. She was surrounded by them, and felt like she had to babysit more than actually lead; to be the _Boss._

"Because of 'Lucky Charms', man," Leo sighed. "All this time, I thought I knew him. Turns out I didn't know him at all. Lucky's unlucky. Joke's on me now."

"He's still the same-"

"Don't feed me bullshit, Boss. He's just being the guy those two need us to see; that asshole and nice guy routine I was tellin' you about? He pulls off an _asshole_ way better than I can on daily basis. It's bugging me that they'd hide this long, and then she pops out a year later. Why? The fuck are they even around for? What, all we had to do was crap on the doorstep of some shady assholes, and then she just happens to know people that can help us? Nothing's adding up, Boss."

"Why is it bothering you to this degree?" Piper struggled to remain elusive and relevant at the same time, but she was already running out of words and questions to choose from that wouldn't tip Leo off. "I'd imagine the Gunners had sketchier operations and hadn't given you any information about them whatsoever."

"Well, I ain't a merc no more. I'm a gun, yeah, but now I'm a gun that wants to know what the fuck he's aiming at. I don't wanna be buried six feet under and rust away."

"You won't."

"How the fuck can you say that? The Sarge got kidnapped, and all he was doing was fucking you."

Piper's temple twitched at the crude language, but she was no longer a stranger to vulgarity. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sucked in a deep breath to stay calm. "Then why are you really here, Leo? It sounds like you've already got your mind made up in all of this." Her innards shook and screamed at her not to say what she was about to say, for she needed all the allies she could get; but she couldn't manipulate this man into staying, to make sure the other two wouldn't leave after him for whatever mission they were on.

"If you don't want to be here anymore, then nobody is stopping you, Leo. You're free to leave."

"And be kidnapped by them just for having any contact with you? No thanks. I ain't waiting to be tortured to cough up whatever information they need to hear."

Wonderful. Someone admitting they would sell her out in a heartbeat, too. Rattled, Piper rose from her chair and dug in her jacket for another pack of cigarettes. She went to the window to smoke, raking a hand through her hair. "If you stay, you're a target. If you leave, you're a target. We're all targets here - have been even before I made a stink about the Institute, because nobody has ever been safe from them whether they knew it or not. Did you think Blue knew? No. He was frozen in a freaking vault and didn't do nothing to the world or the Institute; but they still went out of their way, somehow found him, and took his family anyways. So what the hell do you want, Leo?"

"I don't know what I want," he hissed, and his boots hit the floor. She twisted around as nonchalantly as she hadn't felt, her gaze flickering to the pistol on the desk. He approached her, nostrils flaring. "But I know the Institute wants you. If you care _sooooo_ fucking much about everyone, then you should stop hiding and turn yourself in. Stop dragging everybody in your fucking mess and getting them killed."

That stung, but the truth always did. She wasn't a stranger to the guilt that gnawed away from her inside, and her shoulders caved in exhaustion. "If it would save-"

"Bullshit! If you wanted that, you'd have done it; but you're trying to break in instead. The fuck are you gonna do after, Boss? They'll know you're in there, wherever the fuck they are. Think they'll just let everybody go if you piss them off _even more?_ No. You know what up Top did in the Gunners if someone so much as looked at them the wrong way? They shot 'em, or ordered other gunners for a hazing - even if it was their own buddies, but you _had_ to if you wanted to live too. That's just the way things work in life. It don't matter what wasteland you're in; and I been a part of too many hazings to start caring for some dumb broad that went looking for trouble to piss off the Institute on _purpose._"

Leo's predatory eyes screamed sinister intent as he approached her, and she turned, back flattening against the window. The moment she launched for the desk, he stole the pistol before she could and aimed it at her. "Sorry, Boss. I ain't gonna turn into a robot or food for sick experiments. It's every fucking man for himself out here. You've done it and were going to do it to me too, and I'm just beating you to it." He jerked his head to the side. "Go on. We're going for a little walk."

"What's your plan, Leo?" Piper hissed through gritted teeth, trying to quell the shaking inside of her as she postured to be tough. "You have none. You think the Institute is just going to pop up in the streets and you can just hand me off to them with a happy goodbye? They've hid in the shadows all this time and nobody knows a thing about them. There's a **reason** for that. You'd just be a loose end for them to tie up."

"Not unless I offer my gun to them."

"You'd _work_ for them?!"

"Hey, if you can't beat 'em." He shrugged, grabbing her shoulder to shove her towards the door. "Join 'em."


	7. The Angels That Burn For Us

_**[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE**_**_]  
Chapter 7: The Angels That Burn For Us  
_**_Trigger warning: attempted sexual violence  
_

* * *

Ideas raced as Piper was shoved out her door. Her first idea backfired spectacularly.

"Luki!" She called out for help.

"Luki!" Came a moan at the _same fucking time._

Piper wanted to scream, but Leo slapped his hand over her mouth and drilled the gun barrel into her ribs. Her cheeks flushed in both dismay and anger - this was the _worst_ possible time that Luki and Sarah could be doing _that._

"Try that again and I'll shoot your knees out. I'll drag you by your fucking hair if I have to." Leo hissed viciously, shoving her towards his room first. She reeled her head forward and jerked it back to slam into his nose, and Leo's yelp echoed in the hallway - as did his cusses. She didn't dare make the same mistake with Luki and Sarah, taking off running. She cradled her head when he fired a shot and rushed around the corner, hands chafing against the stone wall as she crashed into it in her haste to _not_ fall to her death on the stairs.

"Get back here!" Leo yelled, and she haphazardly flailed a middle finger over her shoulder - uncaring if he actually saw it - as she rounded the first flight of stairs and stormed down the next, the railing cracking and giving way when she grabbed it. She vaulted over the railing and her heart thundered in her throat in panic.

"Get out the way!" Piper cried out, and pain shot up her shins when she had slammed down on the hotel's reception desk. The old woman slewed cusses at her but she couldn't afford to stop and apologize, rolling off the desk. She rubbed her shins before she took off sprinting the second another shot was fired. She barely heard Luki shouting - sounding panicked - before she exited the hotel and ran across the city, her lungs burning just as much as her legs.

Fear and adrenaline coursed through her, groping for what in the _fuck_ she was supposed to do now. She had no weapon, no supplies, no caps, no allies. She was on the verge of tears and honestly had half a mind to just let Leo hand her off to the Institute - maybe hopefully see them _execute_ the fucking backstabber to tie up loose ends, but not before she'd get to look him in the eye and say _'I told you so.'_

Then she'd spit on his corpse.

Guards tried to intervene but she hadn't dared stop. She didn't know who to trust - she couldn't _afford_ to trust anymore; and it broke apart what little calm and composure she had left. She charged down dark alleyways, praying she wasn't going to just end up in another shady asshole's hands, the world rapidly blurring and turning misty. She climbed up a trash bin and leaped for a ladder, cursing when arms locked on her waist and pried her off the moment she caught a rung. A gag was stuffed in her mouth before she had the chance to scream and she beat down with her fists, only for her wrists to be scooped up and pinned above her head.

"You're a lot more trouble than you're worth, _'Boss',_" Leo seethed, sounding nasally. Streaks of blood ran down from his nostrils, dripping off his chin and down on her face. "You broke my fucking nose. I should shoot you in the head right now, you fucking bitch - but I'm gonna have some fun with you before I do that. Consider it _payment_ for what it'll cost me to fix up my nose." The sound of a zipper being undone instantly froze her, and when she looked down - horrified to see Leo expose himself and wrestle on her pants, she shrieked at the top of her lungs, but the gag muffled her. She thrashed wildly and kicked with all her might, but the scrawny man drilled his knees into her thighs.

And then his body slumped on her.

The remnants of a gun shot pierced through her haze of fear, and she wasted no time to push Leo off, zipping herself back up as she spat the gag out. She scrambled and pried the pistol out of Leo's limp hand when racing footsteps thundered in her ears, still stuck in overdrive to escape by _any_ means necessary. She cried out when calloused fingers snapped around her small wrists, and someone familiar was yelling at her, shaking her.

Dazed, she blinked her tears away, the noise in the world crashing back in her skull like a tidal wave. She hiccuped and wheezed in between weak breaths, and her eyes widened at who held her.

"Garrett?"

No, no,_ no._ This had to be a nightmare. He wouldn't be here. There was no logical explanation for it, and she gaped at him in disbelief. His mouth was moving, saying something, but she couldn't hear him over the white noise blaring in her brain. His arms scooped under her knees and around her shoulders, cradling her close to his body as he lifted her and got her out of there.

Blue and Nick flooded her vision next, but the world wouldn't stop spinning - and she barely got the words out in time. "Let go. Puke. I _need-_"

A steel bucket was held beside her, and Nick held her hair out of her face as she vomited everything that could have possibly been in her stomach these past few days. She shivered like a leaf caught in a storm, quivering and sweating. Someone wiped her face. What happened? What was happening? Piper absentmindedly clung to Garrett as she looked over his shoulder, staring at Leo's corpse shrinking away in the alleyway as they walked away. Just like that. In a matter of minutes, the bloodshot crybaby went from moping, to threatening, to chasing and shooting and nearly _raping-_

"Oh god," she slapped a hand over her mouth, burying her face in not-Garrett's neck. It wasn't him, no matter how dearly she wished it to be. This was just a bad dream. It had to be. Luki's voice blended in with Blue's and Nick's, and Sarah was freaking out for some reason. Every time Piper blinked, the setting changed. She struggled to keep up and process the wealth of information.

Five minutes ago, she was in the hotel. Then she charged down the stairs, and pain shot up her shins when she jumped over the railing out of desperation. Then the city, whipping past the security henchmen and chemheads. Then Leo... Leo was going to...

And now she was back in the hotel.

Piper curled into a ball and hugged her knees on her creaky bed. The entire group was in her room, yelling at each other, and for some reason Sarah kept glaring at her. Or was it the man holding her? Nick kept casting suspicious looks. Whoever's arms were around her was shaking just as much as her. She stilled, paralyzed, when a familiar rough sensation scratched her cheek as the mystery man rested his chin on her shoulder. She wouldn't ever forget this feeling.

"Garrett?" Piper whispered ever so softly, but she closed her eyes. She couldn't look. She was afraid she'd just see what she _wanted_ to see, and she needed to hear him; nevermind the part where she was probably just going to hear what she wanted to hear, too. It was worth a try.

And then a powerful sob wracked through her when a murmur flooded her ear.

"_I'm here, Angel._"

**x - x - x**

Gat scowled at everybody in the room as he protectively cradled Piper - who had cried herself to sleep - in his arms, holding and _hoarding_ her like a dragon guarding it's pile of treasure. He didn't give a fuck who these new freaks were, getting their panties in a twist over that fucking dead prick. "Good fucking riddance. 'Bout time someone put a bullet between that shitwit's eyes. Been a long time comin' with the shite he pulled."

For some reason, the blonde woman turned red in the face and was absolutely _enraged,_ but Luki held her back. It didn't stop her from spitting at Garrett. "Fuck you! You don't even fucking know what we've been through to protect him!"

"Protect _that_ sack of shite? What about Piper, huh? What 'bout all the other fuckin' women he did that shite to? Or are y'just gonna turn a blind eye-"

"Enough," Cowboy interjected sternly. "What's done is done." He looked at the steaming blonde woman. "I'm not going to give my condolences for him; I don't regret killing him, either. I don't care who he was. Leo crossed the line. Piper has proven to be a steadfast friend and-"

"Bullshit," the blonde woman cut cruelly, "you just need her to help you get inside the Institute!"

"Sarah," Luki urged as he pulled her towards the door, "let's go. This isn't going to change anything. Let's just... Go. We can at least give him a burial."

"The hell are you so worked up 'bout that dead prick for, anyways?" Gat blurted before Luki had a chance to drag the woman out, and when her head snapped to him, blue eyes sheen with unshed tears, he _almost_ felt sorry for her; but he felt sorry for a fate worse to her than that dead arsehole.

"He was _family._ My last one. A half-brother, but still _family._ Now they're all in a fucking grave."

Gat bit his tongue before he extended his condolences for her being _related _to Leo, and exchanged wary glances with Cowboy as Luki pulled the blonde woman out of the room. Gat sighed and leaned back as slowly as he could so the creaky bed wouldn't sing a little tune, resting against the bed frame as he adjusted how Piper slept against him.

"Will you be alright with her?" Cowboy asked with surprising tenderness as he approached them, slinging off the duffel bag of guns to set beside the bed.

"Yeah, I think so," Gat murmured, wanting to scream that he wasn't _at all _alright with her. He didn't know the extent of his upgrades and whether or not the Institute could see all this _through_ him, through his eye implants; maybe he should have read up on all the details when Adam left him with a folder, but he just wanted to get a move on and see Piper again. Even if he shouldn't. He sighed and buried a hand in his hair, raking it back, rubbing his nape. He watched Cowboy and Nick linger near the door, blurting when the synth was the first to move for it. "No, I take that back. Can y'two stay? I think she'll feel better if she has more people she trusts stay with her."

God knew she couldn't trust him - even if she didn't know it yet.

"Someone needs to stand guard outside, just in case." Nick grabbed a pack of cigarettes from his trench coat, tossing it on the bed. "I'll guard - don't need to eat or sleep. Let her know she's welcome to that whole pack and more. I got two left." He bowed his hat as a gesture of goodbye, then slipped out of the room, closing the door as quietly as was possible.

"Alright. Thanks, mate." Gat looked at Cowboy next, who's mouth thinned in a frown. He came back and dragged a chair over, sitting and propping his feet up on the dresser as he turned his army helmet down to cover his eyes. Gat studied him, then down at the sleeping woman. He cradled her protectively and rested his chin on the top of her head, never taking his eyes off Cowboy. "Thanks for... You know... And whatever your name is. If you were just a minute late from finding her..."

"Best not to think about it," Cowboy murmured. "My only regret was being stupid enough for ever recruiting that guy into the Minutemen. Luki vouched for him. He's probably hurtin'."

"Not as much as that other woman, apparently." It was _still_ mind-boggling that anyone would ever even grieve over that fucking prick. "What was her name, again?"

"Sarah."

"Right..."

Awkward silence fell between them, and Gat easily grew uncomfortable. He didn't know what to do, what to say - he knew he wanted to bring Leo back to life so he could be _tortured_ for what he was going to do. Gat held Piper tighter and closed his eyes, angling his head so that he could breathe warmth into her scalp. She shivered, and he spotted goosebumps.

"Hey, Cowboy-"

"John."

"Huh?" Gat stared, puzzled, then pieced it together. "Oh. S'that your name, then?"

"No." Right. This was going to get real confusing, real fast. "I don't remember my name, but that's the one I've been going by. John Doe."

"What? That's daft. How did ya forget yer own name?"

_John_ shrugged. "A side-effect from being frozen in the vault, I guess. I don't know. I only remember snippets of my past; my family is the only thing that's clear to me."

"Oh..."

"Anyways, you were about to say something?"

Blank on what that even was, Gat had a blank look and stared again. A shiver from Piper reminded him real fast. "Yeah. Is there anything in that dresser we can use to cover her up? She's shakin' like a leaf, here."

"Maybe she's still in shock? Never been too keen on medical stuff." John took his feet off the dresser and rummaged inside, coming up with only a handful of ratty t-shirts. He used them to cover her legs, then took off his duster and draped it over her shoulders. Gat took the sleeves and wrapped it around her to secure the duster, slowly adjusting until he had fully laid down so that she would be more comfortable, sleeping on top of him.

"That makes two of us," Gat mumbled, looking down at Piper. His heart _hurt._ How was that even possible? He was sick to his stomach that anything like this would ever even be attempted on her, and he wasn't around to stop it, or offer himself up again. He clung to her as if his life depended on it, and closed his eyes as tightly as possible when they began to burn.

What was he doing? What was he _going_ to do? He had to take her to the Institute. John was his only excuse to give them that he couldn't kidnap her in front of witnesses. His family was on the line here. If they were watching all this from his eyes, then they'd know he was having a _change of heart,_ and they'd take it out on his sister - or worse yet, Rose. What was he suppose to do?

He couldn't take her. Not now. Not after all of this. She was going through enough. How long could he afford to wait, though? How long would it take until she got over the shock and trauma about what was about to happen? His deadline was in half a week now. How long did it take him to get over his trauma?

He never really did.

"God, forgive me," he whispered in her hair.

And it stirred her.

"_Garrett?_" Piper mumbled sleepily, and the two men exchanged worried looks. He squeezed her in his arms and nodded so that she felt his chin bump against her.

"Still here, Angel. I'm not going anywhere."

Piper stiffened for a moment, then sat up, stripping the duster and shirts away as she twisted to look down at him. She looked so _distant,_ her hazel green eyes haunted by ghosts. Her gaze lazily panned around the room until it landed on John. "Nat?"

"Safe in one of my most fortified settlements, and I have a trusted friend watching over her. She has children to play with there too - and education."

A noisy breath left her and she buried her face in her hands, then inhaled deeply. Gat slowly sat up and she ran her hands up her face, through her hair. He didn't know what to do. Was it okay to touch her? Was it okay to kiss her? He wanted to comfort her, but in a few days, it would just become another nightmare for her - a memory she wished she could purge from her mind.

"Take another breath," John encouraged. "Keep taking them, and don't let any one of them be the last one before you turn cold. Fighting the demons will take time."

What was this priestly shite? Gat gawked at the man who had as serious of a face as ever, approaching and kneeling by the bedside as he reached for Piper's knee. She flinched from his touch and he respectfully withdrew, casting an apologetic look to Gat; every part of him screamed to pummel John down the moment she reacted that way.

Hypocrite. He had no right to be her protector. Not anymore.

Piper blindly reached behind until she felt Gat's hand, pulling it around her midriff. It was bittersweet. He hurt more than he was relieved, that he was the only one allowed to touch her. He shouldn't be. He didn't know how to tell her. He didn't know when to take her. His family was going to die because of this. Her tiny little fingers interlaced with his and she squeezed weakly. "I'm sorry."

"_W-what?_" Gat croaked, licking his dry lips. He exchanged confused looks with John. "What could y'possibly be sorry for, luv?"

Silence, and then the smallest little chuckle skipped in the hitch of her breath. "I said your name. Blue isn't the only one that knows now. Luki does too."

Seriously? _That's_ what she was worried about right now? His brows furrowed and he stared at the back of her head in disbelief, only moving to action when John blinked exaggeratedly at him and gave him a stern look. Right. He probably shouldn't let her suffer any longer - not like this. Even though she was going to.

This was driving him batty.

"That don't matter, Angel. I don't care. I'm just glad you're..." Okay? She wasn't okay. Gat took a shaky breath and scooted closer, cautiously wrapping his other arm around her. She grew rigid, but minute by minute, her muscles melted against him.

"Blue." Piper looked over at him, and Gat could only see the half of her face. What he saw tore him apart. Her voice was as flat and emotionless as her face. "Is he actually here, or am I going crazy? Are _you_ even here? I feel like I'm stuck in a nightmare."

"Cowboy better be the part that's the nightmare; I'm your dream come true, yeah?" Gat blurted, cringing when he - as always - chose the _worst fucking possible time_ to joke.

And, surprisingly, she laughed.

Piper shifted to her side to look at him, her gaze wandering and searching his face. She reached and cupped his cheek, running the backs of her fingers along his beard, and he grinned when she pinched his ear. She continued to inspect and _test_ him, going so far as to squeeze his nose. And then her eyes narrowed. She reeled her fist back and shot forth to punch his stomach, and he nearly doubled over from the unexpected surprise.

"Ow! What was that for?"

Nevermind the part that he deserved way worse than this.

"For leaving me," she hissed, "for not coming back sooner. For driving me crazy these past few days, or wait, no, for _always _driving me crazy, and for... For everything! What the hell were you thinking, Gat? What even happened to you?" She looked over at Blue. "Did you already get inside the Institute or what?"

"No," John shook his head, stepping back to give them space - and probably just not get punched himself. "Nick and I staked your house after we dropped Nat off."

Myriads of expressions flickered across her face, and her piercing gaze settled back on Gat. He smiled lopsidedly and _shivered_ at her glower. "That'd give deathclaws-"

"_Really_ not the time to joke."

"R-right." Gat chuckled nervously as he rubbed his nape. This was it. If anyone could ever spot a lie, it was her - doubly so, since she knew _how_ he lied; the only way out of this was to tell the truth. _Parts_ of it, anyways. "I, uh, well I was ambushed on the way to my bounty, but I broke free. Y'remember that arsehole that kept using your article as a place mat?"

"Yes." Flat, with no hint of whether or not she was buying his story or not. Technically he was telling the truth, right?

"Well, it was her and a couple goons. Guess she wanted to get back at me?" He hastily undid his pants and ignored her fierce blush.

"This isn't the time, Gat!"

"No, no, just wanna show ya somethin'." And distract her busybody mind from thinking and asking any questions. He yanked the lip of his pants down without thinking, to show the bruises on his thighs from the baton, and looked up at John when he cleared his throat loudly. Cowboy jerked his head towards Piper, and when Gat looked over, that haunted glaze was back in her eyes. This wasn't how he was supposed to distract her. He scrambled to do his pants up and framed her jaw. "Piper, Angel, look at me. I'm sorry. I'm so..."

Tears grew, and he wanted to shoot himself for being the perpetrator of them this time. He knocked their foreheads together and closed his eyes when tears burned for him too, and John quietly excused himself from the room. Gat slew a flurry of cusses in his mind, but all he could think of was her.

"I'm sorry," he choked out, and something inside of him _broke._ "I'm so fucking sorry, luv. I should have never left. I should have been there to protect you _all._ I should have... _Fuck._" No matter how tightly he kept his eyes shut, the tears leaked out. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and buried his face in her neck, chanting his apologies over and over and fucking _over_ again in between hiccups as his lungs kicked against his chest. "I fucked up really bad, and now I don't know what to do. This was never supposed to happen to you. I don't want to hurt you." She pulled away to frame his head and drew it to her chest, soothingly stroking her fingers through his hair. "I don't know what to do anymore. I'm sorry, luv, I just... I don't..."

"_Shh,_" she cooed softly, "it's alright." Why was she comforting him? They had this all arseways again. And yet, despite that, he selfishly soaked up every scrap of comfort she offered. "I'm just glad you're okay. I assumed the worst when I ran into that woman and saw her with your rifle - and it turned out she was working for the Institute _too._"

Gat was ready to go off the rails about his rifle being _tainted, _but there was something else that worried him. One word: _w__as._ He withdrew from her. "How did you find out?"

Piper's eyes darkened, as if a light bulb suddenly died in them. "I tied her up and interrogated her." A kick to the chest. "I tortured her." A shot to the heart. "And I killed her myself."

_"I don't like shooting people who are unarmed or surrendering."_

Someone bloody shoot _him_ already.

"Piper..."

She looked away. Her voice was as cold as her eyes. "I'd do it again."

"Don't. Never again. Y'hear me, luv? **Never. Again.**"

"You'd do the same for me. And others."

"Because I'm already well beyond bloody saving, luv. I've crossed that line long ago; ain't no salvation for me, and I ain't lookin' for forgiveness. I need this." He poked her chest. "Yer bleedin' heart."

What did it matter?

He'd be the reason why it would be bleeding.

"Leave that shite for people like me, 'cause we've already paid the price. This world don't need more devils runnin' around."

Piper looked down and reached for his hand, fidgeting as she ran her finger over his calloused knuckles. A weak smile tugged the corner of her mouth. "You call me an angel, but that's you, you know. A fallen angel." She shot a stern look up at him and slapped a hand over his mouth before he burst out laughing. "Don't you dare make fun of me."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he teased, relishing in the feeling of her warm palm against his lips. He selfishly took a chance and leaned forward just the slightest bit, holding her palm to his mouth as he kissed it tenderly, then moved to plant one on each dainty little fingertip, calloused from writing and typing. She withdrew her hand and he didn't react fast enough - or was it because he just didn't _want_ to? - when she came up on her knees and hunched over, her hands cradling under his jawline as she gently pulled for him to look up at her.

"I've missed you so much," Piper whispered as she came down and captured his lips, her eyes slipping shut the moment tears flowed again. "Take advantage of this while you still can - there is going to be _hell_ to pay for you leaving me alone that long. And leaving me alone at all. But for now..." She took the hem of his shirt and forced his arms up as she pulled it off, straddling his thighs. "Make me forget, Garrett. I only want to think about you and nothing else right now. Not even the Institute."

"Piper..."

"_Please._"

He still didn't know what to do, and a war was waged inside as he screamed whether to stop this or revel in it.

"Piper, you were almost..." He trailed off, a lump choking him off at his throat. He couldn't bring himself to say it. Not for her. It was almost funny how one word could suddenly change, the weight of it all more drastic just because of a person who _made_ his world.

"Exactly. Make me forget." She took it upon herself to take his hands and rest them on her hips. "Remind me what it's like to be touched by someone who _loves_ me."

Wasn't this messed up? Wasn't this just going to hurt her even more? He didn't understand what was going on in her mind, or what was _going_ to go on in her mind. This whole bloody fucking situation was messed up. Who knew what the Institute wanted to do to her? Likely kill her - effectively killing him. He didn't want to lose this, lose her, lose _anything; _but that was the path they were on now. This world was hellbent on ripping every angel's wings out, turning them into devils.

Except it wasn't the world that was going to rip out her wings - it was _him._

Gat held on to her tightly, slipping his hand around her nape, burying his fingers in her thick tresses. He kissed her with everything he could muster, and just brushing her lips broke him apart inside. Tears leaked out and he loathed himself, tearing away from her. The guilt was too much. "I can't do this, Piper. I can't. I'm sorry." He slid off the bed and moved for the desk, but kept his eyes squarely on the window so there was no potential for the Institute to see anything through him.

"Garrett..." She sounded so frail, on the verge of falling apart. It was agony to hear, and he needed to put an end to this - or was he just being selfish, ending his own misery?

Gat blindly searched through the desk's drawers for something to write with, and she came up behind him, pushing a notepad and pencil into his hand. What a godsend; how she thought to do this, he didn't know or care. He blindly scribbled down his warning about him and his job and held it out to her, using the _Institute_ as an excuse not to look at her. He just couldn't. He couldn't bear seeing any more betrayal and pain and those _empty eyes _all over again.

Every part of him trembled when she sucked in a sharp breath, then exhaled ever so slowly. She hooked a hand on his shoulder and _squeezed_ him. What was that supposed to mean?

"Garrett," she said a little more sternly; and it was a surprise that she still used his name at all. He stole a quick glance when he felt something soft rest between his shoulder blades, and saw her raven hair. She kissed his spine, holding on to his shoulders as she rose on her toes and kissed his nape.

How in the world was she still _kissing_ him? He just admitted he was to take her back to the Institute; and then he was gutted by her words.

"I already knew the moment you said you should have been there to protect us **all.**"

Footsteps echoed as she circled around him, and his heart thundered in his ears when she came to stand in front of him with a warm smile on her face. She loosely hooked her arms around his shoulders and rose on her toes to kiss him, whispering against his lips. "It's okay, Garrett. I understand. I'd do the same for Nat."

Just like that, a weight was lifted off his shoulders - but it hurt _even more_ now. She knew, and she _understood,_ and she _forgave,_ and he didn't-

"I don't fucking deserve this," he hissed, but she simply smiled as she kissed him. "You should be running away from me, or killing me, or... _Why?_"

"Because I'd do the same thing as you." Piper pulled on his hands and led him back to the bed. "Love me _one last time,_ Garrett. Then we'll go, as long as you'll be there every step of the way with me, and as long as you're sure they'll release your family and _you;_ and promise me you'll do _whatever it takes _to take care of Nat."

"Piper you can't-"

"I've dragged enough people into this because of my actions. Others shouldn't pay the consequences for me - or end up dying because of fear, and doing something stupid because of it. I can't do this, knowing they'll target not just the ones that I love, but the ones they love too. The Institute will never stop." She sucked in a deep breath, and though she still smiled - smiled to be strong _for him_ \- he saw the fear in her eyes too.

She was the angel that willingly walked to the fire, instead of running away from it. She burned for everyone.

Well, that was just bloody _daft._

"I'm not going to let them kill you," Gat promised ardently, and the tears shone brighter in her eyes - eyes that no longer had any hope. He was going to change that.

"What are you going to do to stop them? You can't."

"I can. And I know just the way to do it, not surprised you don't. Quit bein' a barmy bird and start thinking 'bout self-preservation a little bit, luv. Y'seriously needa learn that skill."

Piper's mouth dropped and she gawked at him, her anger flaring as her fist came out and connected with his ribs, her _habit_ revived. "Of all fucking times to be an asshole, you choose _now! _I'm trying to be all romantic here and... And you're just...! _Ugh!_" She clenched her fists and held her head high as she marched to the desk and grabbed a black trench coat, wrestling it on. He grinned merrily even when she shot deathly glares at him.

"Black looks real sexy on you, luv."

"Shut up, stupid Mr. Handy!"

Life was back in her bones, and the embers of her soul have reignited once again.

This was the way the angel should have burned for them.


	8. The Devils That Burn In Us

_**[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE**_**_]  
Chapter 8: The Devils That Burn In Us_**

* * *

"Ready?" Gat asked as he walked close behind her, pretending to steal nervous looks behind him at John and Nick. He sucked in a sharp breath when Piper's hand captured his, squeezing reassuringly before she let go. There was nothing reassuring about this. He faced front and watched her brush her raven hair over her shoulder; it was growing longer, and it suited her. Plus there'd be more to grab-

Not the time.

"Ready," she stated firmly, never looking back so as not to give them all away.

"Are we sure about this?" Nick asked, the strike of a match echoing in the hallway. "Lots of things can go wrong. The Institute could send reinforcements to attack us."

"It's just a risk we'll have to take," Gat sighed, raking a hand through his hair. He smiled to himself. "Don't worry; I'm a professional when it comes to kidnapping reporters."

Piper scoffed. "Sure, make fun of me now, but we'll see who has the last laugh. Don't think I'm not counting how many times I'm going to pay you back for all of this." She glanced over her shoulder with a sultry smile, and it tempted him into pushing her back into one of the rooms for a bit of _privacy_ before they went out on a limb on this 'plan' of theirs. He was still going by the fly of his pants; but at least it was still _kind of sort of_ sticking to the original plan, before he left Diamond City.

Except now it was a legitimate kidnapping.

"Let's start this once we're outside the city," Piper murmured as she led the group down the stairs. "That way the Institute will see it from the crows if not from Gat's... _Eyes._" Her every step gradually grew shakier.

Gat came up her side and slid a firm hand along the small of her back, his gaze always set forward. Better safe than sorry. "I know I ain't give a whole lotta chances before, Angel, but know y'can trust me. I won't let 'em so much as touch a hair on yer head."

"...Just how do you plan to convince them, Garrett? Is this another one of your bad ideas that I'm going to hate?"

"Yup. A lot."

"Oh. Well. _Wonderful. _I suppose I should ask: what's new?"

"Just bein' honest," he chuckled, "but we need to buy time. Just follow my lead once I get you inside there."

"And my family?" John piped, a sliver of hope buried beneath the weariness and hopelessness drenching his voice. "Will you be able to investigate their whereabouts?"

Gat rubbed his nape and gave a halfhearted shrug. "I ain't got full access to all facilities, but I'll try an' think of a way to get some information. Got to be a blabber that's all over babies and shite. Eggheads are prolly havin' a fuckin' orgasm just studying it."

"_Him,_" John corrected pointedly. "My son is not a _thing. _He's a human."

Gat shot an exasperated look over his shoulder. Of all things to be nitpicked apart with his penchant for not being _choosy_ with his words, and it was that? Not the experiments part? It was a lot more devastating and terrifying for sure, but maybe that was just because he'd gotten first hand experience. His gaze swiveled to Piper at that, determined to make sure she wouldn't have the same experience - and she wore a reassuring smile, as if she could just sense his innermost thoughts and frustrations. But that smile... Everything was just for show. Or was it? He forced his eyes to stay up when she nonchalantly swung her hand back and deftly hooked her pinkie on his index finger, and followed close behind her so that what her arm was doing wouldn't be questioned by potential eggheads.

Flickering street lights and the smells of shite and urine flooded Gat's nose, and he wrinkled it in disgust. This part? He could do without the amplification. Why the hell was a sense of smell important in combat? Adam had to be told how idiotic this _'upgrade'_ was before he went off thinking his bizarre theories had any legitimate practicality. Gat tried to stick even closer to Piper, to focus on her scent, only to realize she-

"_Jesus._ Y'needa bath, luv," he muttered. Piper shot a vicious glare at him and he immediately shut his lips with a nervous smile. "That was s'pos'ta stay in my head."

"Just for that, we're never kissing ever again."

"What? Aw, c'mon! It was just a slip of the tongue."

"You 'slip' all the time!" Piper huffed, and her hand slipped away from his as she marched ever faster. "You need to install a freakin' filter between your mouth and your brain."

Duly noted. Gat bit his tongue before he blurted he'd let Adam know about that part too; there wasn't any point worrying Piper about the full extent of his... _Enhancements. _

Or was he just scared that she would refuse to love a _thing_ that was barely human anymore?

It wasn't the time to worry and brood about, anyhow. There wasn't time for anything anymore. The closer they got to the exit, the more his stomach churned and flopped as if he was a wee little boat caught in the heart of a furious storm. He wiped his hands on his cargos and fidgeted more, lighting up a quick smoke to chug as if his life depended on it.

Piper's chuckle caught him by surprise, and there was clear amusement dancing in her eyes when she looked over her shoulder at him. "You're so noisy. I _miss _it." She looked front, yet another precaution they took up so as not to have anyone's lips read either. The playful sass lilting and hitching with her tone had stirred things inside of him. "I think you're more nervous than I am. You always know what to do to comfort me and put any doubt to rest."

"Friggin' batty that yer goin' through with this at all. No strings attached, just 'hey yeah let's go right now and get this shite done and over with.'" Gat lit up another smoke in the other corner of his mouth, then held it over her shoulder as a peace offering. She turned her head the slightest bit and he tucked it neatly between her lips, wishing he could steal one last kiss before they crossed the line. "What if I was just usin' yer bleedin' heart against ya and tellin' ya the truth just to kidnap you for real? Ain't'cha doubting _me_ at all?"

"Well, I mean, if you're asking that, then I don't have to doubt. You're not _stupid._" That was a pleasant surprise to hear. "Well, I mean..." Ah. There it was. "You have your moments, yeah, but you'd never announce it like that. You've played one too many pranks on me for me not to figure that out." Smoke blew out in a circle, and then she shot a straight line through the center. He smirked at it - it seemed that memory and _aggravation_ was never going to leave her alone; just the way he liked it. "Besides, at the end of the day, I don't think I have a choice in how far I can run from them - but now I have a choice in how close I can get _to_ them; and the truth, finally."

Gat frowned at that and mulled on her words in silence. If the truth was still her end goal, then she was going to be _pissed_ with his idea; another thing not to tell her. Not until there was no choice _but_ for her to find out. He was prepared to face her wrath, so long as it meant her safety - a deal he wouldn't give any elbow room for negotiation.

"Nick and I are going to slow down and go to the 'shop' now," John announced, his voice already fading away. Gat stubbed his cigarette as he looked over his shoulder to watch the two head over to Daisy, then made sure to solder his gaze on his hand as he grabbed Piper's elbow and then the fast-approaching exit.

"Ow! Ease up," she hissed, exaggerating a snarl. It took all of him to restrain himself from stealing one last kiss - there were no _guarantees._

"This is easily the worst job I've ever fuckin' signed up for," Gat muttered, pretending to shove Piper as he took out her cigarette and slapped a hand over her mouth to stop her from 'panicking' or calling out to the others for help. Unfortunately, plans rarely worked out in his favor, and the two froze for a fleeting moment when a woman's shout shot through the air.

...With an actual _shot_ to add impact to her command. "Stop right there, Institute! You're not taking her next!"

"Uh... Garrett..." Piper was the one tugging his elbow this time. "Should we...?"

"_Run!_" Gat pushed her out the door and they took off running with Sarah chasing after them - with him pretending to chase Piper as they wove through alleyways. "F'cryin' out loud, just what we fucking need right now! How the hell did she figure me out?! She wasn't even there!"

"What happened to burying Leo?!" Piper yelled back, and they _both_ groaned when the question turned into an answer. "Ugh!"

At least it was confirmation that they were watching from his eyes.

Sharp shots echoed with the smell of ozone, and Gat made the mistake of his _life_ by looking behind him. A banshee shriek tore from his throat and he hastily scrambled in a different alleyway, now running _away_ from Piper instead of after her. He barely heard her cussing about what in the hell he was doing - his heart roared in his ears as he squeaked pathetically. "Just what _I_ fucking need right now! Fucking bloodbugs!"

"This isn't the time, for Christ's sake!" Piper yelled, and when he turned his head, he spotted her running in the adjacent alleyway, her pistol aimed at him. He cradled his head with his arms and screamed when one of the bloodbugs' _buzzing_ beat louder, until it met it's rude end as Piper fired a shot.

"Damn," he growled under his breath, "she can fuckin' shoot..." Another look behind him, and he was ready to burst into tears at the sight of two bloodbugs still flying after him - with Sarah not too far behind as her faint commands fell on deaf ears. "Nobody would be stupid enough to stop and get their arse shot by her." He steeled himself and pivoted, sliding under the bloodbugs as he clambered into an alley connecting him to Piper. He still had to 'chase' her. "Comin' up behind ya, luv! Pretend yer outta bullets!"

"Take the stairs!" Piper yelled breathlessly, and the sounds of boots slamming on rusted metal rang in the adrenaline flooding his body. For no reason known to him, he had started _laughing,_ and he could perfectly envision her rolling her eyes with her tone. "I fail to see what's so fucking funny about _any_ of this, you maniac!"

"Everything is going tits up," he chuckled under his breath. He turned the corner and immediately climbed a trash bin to launch himself at a ladder, groaning when he looked up. Piper was scaling the apartment complex _beside_ him. "How many more things are gonna go wrong before I get Wright?" He jumped back down and rolled before a bloodbug sank it's fucking _needle_ inside of him, shrieking when a shot announced his impending doom; the insect's limp body crashed down on him with all it's leaky guts, and then it was _Piper's_ turn to laugh.

"I fail to see what's so fucking funny about any of this, you maniac!" He yelled back, smirking to himself as her giggles skipped in the air. He crawled on hands and feet until he made it for her ladder, and the last bloodbug was put to rest with another well placed shot that was _far_ too close to him. "Startin' to think y'really wanna make me sweat, Angel."

"Took you long enough to notice. Now hurry up before Sarah ruins everything!" Piper fired more shots around him until there was a notable _click_ in the air, and he made sure to look up at her for the Institute to 'witness' her ejecting her empty magazine. He hustled up the stairs until he reached the top and saw her break down the door with her body, smirking as his blood boiled hotter the longer he chased her.

"You're the most badass girlfriend ever," he yelled out before he followed after her, sprinting down the hallway as he leaped over piles of debris and holes in the flooring. The smell of ozone flooded his nose again and he glanced back down the hall, eyes widening at the sight of the metal railing melting outside. "She's closing in on us, luv!"

"Head to the roof." Piper sounded breathless, and it drove home another point for him - he still had yet to lose his breath. He should have _long_ ago, and it dampened what little mirth there was had to be in this now-legitimate life-threatening chase. He paced himself and pretended to hesitate leaping over more holes in the floor; it wouldn't do if her brain shut down as her body took over, not when she was the driving force to make sure their crude plan actually succeeded.

Gat pulled and knocked over tables and lamps in the hallway to slow down Sarah, then rushed up the last flight of stairs to follow Piper to the roof. The poor lass was doubled over, hands on knees, gasping for air and wheezing. "None of the buildings are close enough to jump over to, _shit..._" She wiped the sweat off her forehead, crashing down on her knees. He looked down at himself as he drew one of his revolvers, then aimed as he cautiously closed in on her - hopefully she remembered his _habit__._

"We won't need to jump." He sucked in a deep breath to steel himself, his hands quivering ever so slightly. The full weight of what he was about to do crashed down on him. "This is it. There's no turning back from this, Angel. I'm taking you to the Institute now." His heart kicked against his chest when she had turned and scrambled backwards on her hands, scooting to the edge of the roof as she fearfully looked over it.

That's how he felt, too.

"H-how are you going to take me there?" Piper glanced around in confusion, and then he kicked himself again. He never explained anything to anyone; why the hell did no one think to question him about these things until _now?_

"Teleportation."

Piper's face fell flat, as if trying to scream _'this isn't the time to joke.'_

"It's not a joke," he cemented, "I'm serious. I _wish_ it were a joke." He glanced over his shoulder when he heard Sarah's cusses beyond the door. "Shit!" He clambered over to Piper and yanked on her elbow to stand, hiding behind her as he jammed her arm behind her, and his revolver against her head. He peeked offside and just below her ear, stealing a quick kiss to her nape. "Sorry, if this hurts, luv."

"Too tired to care," Piper rasped, "I just want this to be over."

Sarah kicked the door open to the roof and her rifle snapped up, her piercing eyes narrowing as she commanded with an aggravating air of authority. "Let her go!"

"Piss off," Gat seethed back, "you're just as annoying as those fucking bloodbugs." He tugged them closer to the edge, his heart hammering in his ears when one of his heels felt nothing under it. Piper shot worried looks over her shoulder, hissing and chanting _'what are you doing?' _under her breath. Luki appeared shortly behind Sarah, but Gat made sure every part of him was covered by Piper. His eyes narrowed at a familiar computer mounted on Luki's wrist - did he take it from John?

Sarah approached, and Gat pressed his barrel against Piper's jaw. "Stay back or I shoot her mouth off!" A pause. Then he smirked. "It'd be Diamond City's dream come true."

"Screw you too, ass," Piper seethed, but her voice warbled with that telltale mirth, viciously repressed.

"Let her go and we'll let you walk away," Luki offered, but the look Sarah shot him was all Gat needed to know that - teleporation or not - he wouldn't get out of this through normal means. He tugged on Piper again as he drew closer to the edge, and she turned her head ever so slightly to watch from the corner of her eyes. Terror burned bright in them.

"Trust me," Gat murmured into her nape so that only she could hear. "I promise I'll keep you safe, but brace yourself for the weirdest shite you'll ever feel. Close your eyes."

"Garrett..."

"Close your eyes," he urged, and he squeezed his shut as tightly as possible. The moment he heard Sarah and Luki's boots slam against the concrete in a bid to reach them, he leaned back as he wrapped his arms around Piper. Her scream cut through the air as they fell off the roof, and the words tumbled out of him without thought. "Butler ready to relay to the Institute with Wright - save us!"

White flashed behind his eyes and his body felt as if it was ripped apart, but it wasn't painful, as if he'd gotten a numbing dose of local anesthesia all over his body and all he could feel from the _surgery_ was pressure warping him. It felt like years passed before he realized he was staring at a ceiling, dazed, holding the woman in his arms ever tighter.

"What... The... Hell...?" Piper drifted, her noisy breaths echoing in this spacious chamber. He lifted his head and dropped just to thud it and know there was actual solid ground beneath him, and that he could still feel pain. They weren't dead. All he had to do was say some magical fucking words, and just like that, in a few seconds, he was in an entirely different world. How the hell did that work? Could _anyone_ just relay to the Institute like that? At least Sarah and Luki witnessed it, so they could pass on the message to John.

"Don't think I'll ever get used to that shite," he muttered, then rolled them until she was on her stomach and he was on top of her, 'wrestling' to get her arms crossed behind her back. He froze when she spoke - the quietest whisper sounded like a grenade going off.

"Garrett, I just realized... They asked you to _kidnap_ me. Not _kill_ me."

Within seconds, coursers flooded the room. Gat pulled her up into standing, freaking out in the back of his mind as he digested her revelation. What _did_ that mean? Would his plan still work if the Institute already had plans of their own with her, if they went through all this trouble to capture her alive?

Claps echoed and his skin crawled when the coursers split, revealing Adam and his snake-like smile. "Congratulations and celebrations are in order, Mr. Butler; for _me,_ of course. Many in the SRB felt you would not see this through. Now I've claimed rights to say _I told you so_ for the entire month."

"Cut the crap, Adam. I've brought her, as you've asked; but before I hand her over, I want to see my family released."

"My oh my, still making demands when you're not in any position to." Adam clasped his wrists behind him as he approached, circling around them. Piper jerked in Gat's hands to maintain their ruse, and he pulled on her until she crashed against his body, curling an arm around her; it was more to help _him_ stay calm. "You really have poor habits, Mr. Butler. Didn't you read the terms of your contract when you accepted the job?"

"What terms?" He hissed, growing ever more agitated - could his stomach stop churning? He swore he was going to puke right here.

"Why, the last page I had included in your folder of _upgrades,_ of course."

Piper's head turned and her gaze snapped to him, but he ignored it.

Adam chuckled when Gat glowered, and the scrawny scientist shrugged. "Your family will remain in our custody until we complete copying Ms. Wright and _dispose_ her."

"Why copy her when you have the real one right here?" Gat blurted, the pieces colliding too fast for him to keep up. He was desperate, and he hated the way the woman in his arms grew rigid as the words tumbled out without thought. "Whatever you need her copy for, you can make the real one do. She'll work for you - I'll _make_ her. All those articles she wrote about you guys? Turn it around. Make the Institute an organization to be respected by the Commonwealth, not feared. Y'wouldn't need to kidnap anymore, wouldn't have no resistance; you'd get willing volunteers."

"Garrett," Piper growled, "I'm not-"

"You've thought this through," Adam hummed cheerfully, clapping with sick glee. This perkiness seriously needed to be shot. "But you see, Mr. Butler, the Institute prides on efficiency, and there is one terrible flaw in your logic: why go through all that trouble with the real one when the fake one will be loyal to the Institute and do _exactly_ as we ask?" He gestured to one of the coursers, and Gat hugged Piper tighter when the _thing_ approached them. She was ripped away from him and the other coursers surrounded him, aiming their weapons at him when he tried to follow after Piper.

His heart stopped when Adam's laugh echoed in the chamber.

"Ah, I knew it! I get to tell them all _I told you so_ for everything! I knew you'd try to find a loophole. You're quite the resourceful man, Mr. Butler; a refreshing pace to work with." Adam took out some sort of remote, and at a push of a button, Gat's legs buckled beneath him as electricity shot through his body.

Screams tore from his raw throat until he coughed up blood, and the shocks stopped. The scrawny man had a pathetically easy time to push Gat on his side with a gentle toe against the ribs, and Adam squatted, his face flooding Gat's vision. He reached for his hand to curl around the _devil's_ throat, but the coursers snapped down on him and pinned his limbs down. It didn't stop him from spitting in Adam's face, who wiped it off and grinned devilishly.

"Thank you, Mr. Butler. Truly, no one could have done a finer job than you; quick and clean and painless. We wouldn't have done this - at least, not as smoothly - without your help. And thanks to you, we also have all other associates that have evaded us. Five people, and a prototype returned! You have no idea how many divisions you've made happy by reacquiring such valuable technology for us. Of course, It has outlived It's usefulness, but at least we can recycle It's parts." He whistled with a mocking smirk. "You're quite the overachiever - and a professional when it comes to kidnapping."

"Fuck you, mother fucker! I'm going to make you _beg_ for death when I get the chance."

"Garrett!" Piper called out, every part of her voice drenched with fear. Gat forced himself to look up at her, expecting to see betrayal - and still he saw a warm smile. Her eyes shone bright with unshed tears, her words warbling and quivering. "We tried everything we could, and I don't regret anything. It's not your fault. Don't let him make you believe it is."

"How touching." Adam rose, and jerked his head towards the hallway. "Take her to the robotics division and let them know they can begin the process."

"Piper!" Gat thrashed against the coursers, but it was futile. Emotion choked him at his throat as guilt slammed him at full force. "I'm sorry, I'm so fucking sorry, I didn't-"

"It's not your fault," was all she repeated, but her voice broke and disappeared in between chants. He screamed cusses at the top of his lungs and refused to give in, fighting until his last breath. Adam ordered the coursers off of him and he shot up to tackle the scrawny man, but his entire body caved in a pathetic slump when searing electricity surged through him again. He broke down in tears over the pain killing him on the inside - in his _heart. _He squeezed his eyes shut as tightly as possible just like the roof, before they jumped off.

If only he never said the 'magical' fucking words. Death was better, because now the entire Commonwealth was going to be the Institute's _willing _victim.

And there was nobody left to stop them.


	9. Human or Machine?

_**[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE**_**_]  
Chapter 9: Human or Machine?  
Warning - _**_character death. It is sudden, and you will hate my guts this chapter. Hope you kinda-sorta-enjoy nonetheless and have a lovely day!  
_

* * *

John stood at the balcony, overlooking the Institute below. He watched as his friends helplessly struggled against the coursers and synths - without any harm done, as was the deal, but the others didn't know that yet. He glanced over his shoulder at Father. Was this man truly his son, or a manipulator?

Well, two could play that game.

"What's your next wish, my son?"

Father's lips thinned in a small smile. "There's a synth that must be apprehended and returned to us; the nuisance that calls themselves the Railroad had performed a memory wipe on this synth, who is now the leader of a dangerous raider gang that has established a base of operations in Libertalia. It is located in Nahant's port and is a destroyed dockyard; one of our coursers will meet you there and assist you in apprehending the synth."

John nodded, then turned back to look over the Institute. He noticed how a lot of scientists in clean coats seemed to stop and gawk at the 'dirty' wastelanders resisting the coursers. "And you _will_ keep your word? They'll be safe from harm?"

"Of course. For research purposes, we will copy their knowledge and a sample of their DNA to study the effects of radiation, but we will not _d__eal_ with them any more than that."

"Will you release them?"

"In due time, yes. I believe it is fair to say that we both are working to build trust. It would be the Institute's best interests to know for certain that your colleagues will not pose a threat to us in any manner."

"How do I know you won't pacify them the moment I leave?"

Father stuffed his hands in the pockets of his lab coat, his body sagging with a weary smile. "I realize that this was not the most welcoming introduction to the Institute for any of you, and there have been many... Unfavorable stories about us, out there in the wasteland; but I assure you, we mean well and we really do have humanity's best interests at heart, though I will admit that to many scientists, the line between ethics and science can sometimes be... Blurry. However, if nothing else, know that you can trust my word. I keep what I give and will not disappoint you, father." He gestured towards the door. "There is also someone who has been anxious to meet you, if you'll follow me. Then I will escort you to our armory - where you can requisition and access anything you need - after your reunion."

"My reunion?" That piqued John's interest, but there was a dreadful feeling brewing in his stomach. He turned to face Father, still trying to gauge the validity of their familial connection as he studied the facial features of his 'son'. If anything, Father looked closer to his wife than him. Father gestured again and John reluctantly tailed after him through long cylindrical hallways - flashes of images came to his mind, something about televisions and commercials of futuristic furniture. He cast it out of his mind and commit the areas he'd accessed thus far to memory, just in case.

Just in case for _what?_

What in the world could he do? Or the Minutemen? Or even the Brotherhood, for that matter? He remembered some bright beam of light when he was split up from Nick and surrounded by synths, and an uncomfortable ghostly experience as if he was dreaming that he was outside his body. What that may have suggested was beyond him - and the unknown was always terrifying - but it was enough to drive the point home that the Institute would have been safe from any means of an assault.

Perhaps they could be sabotaged on the inside, but what John had seen thus far didn't exactly equate to the cackling evil scientists he envisioned in his mind. There were children here just as there were children in his settlements, and people with honest aspirations and honorable goals. That was just what he was _allowed_ to see so far, though.

But... Perhaps all this negativity had been just a case of a bad apple falling from the tree? It was something to think about as he talked and toured more.

They wound down the spiral ramp, every step echoing. John forced a polite smile at a scientist - carrying a young child in their arms - who passed by, taking his army helmet off to hold over his chest as he nodded to them. They seemed confused by the notion and gave him a strange look, but he shrugged it off and looked back at Father as he picked up his stride.

"What's life like down here? What family values are typically passed on?"

Father glanced over his shoulder, brow arched. "That's a specific question; and an intriguing one. I would assume you already have ideas."

"Science, science, science," John droned with a bored tone, smirking when it wrought a humble chuckle.

"I suppose I did ask for that. Science is, of course, a value we emphasize most; however, science is such a broad term. Everyone here is passionate about what they study, and it is _those_ values that dictate where their passions lie." As they reached the lower level, Father waved his hand aside as he continued to lead through another corridor, gesturing to a yellow door. "For example: Facilities. It may not sound like the most thrilling aspect of science, but it's an integral division that I dare say is the foundation of the Institute. It oversees the upkeep of the Institute, like our life support, security systems, power distribution, food and housing, mechanical engineering and maintenance; the list goes on and on."

"Life support," John echoed, looking up at the ceiling that seemed to stretch for miles. "The way we got in..." He didn't know how to word his question, and frowned. "How...?"

"An engineering marvel accomplished by our Advanced Systems division: the teleportation matrix." Father stopped and comfortably clasped his wrists behind him as he looked down the expansive atrium, smiling as people boarded the center elevator. He glanced over at John. "Do you know why we might need of such a thing?"

"Teleportation?" John tried to swallow the lump of anxiety that knotted inside his throat, clearing it as he met Father's eyes. "If you need that and life support, my best guess is that we're in some sort of underground bunker. Maybe salvaged from something the government or military had. During my service, I recall hearing rumors that there were a few FBI and CIA facilities that stretched for miles underground."

"Those rumors are true, and you are quite close indeed," Father hummed. "We're not in an old military or government police bunker, though, no; we are built upon the remnants of the Commonwealth Institute of Technology university. Come, let us continue this way." He turned and took the lead again, chuckling under his breath. "I won't be forgiven if I stall any longer."

Silence fell between them, save for their footsteps. John looked down at his dirty mud-caked boots versus the leather loafers Father wore, licked clean and shiny - probably lathered with some sort of fancy scientific mumbo-jumbo wax; what a pitiful existence for the scientist who felt his only option and 'passion' in life was reserved to stitching together clothes and coats, and to create the materials to maintain them to the Institute's standard.

John didn't want to think about what happened to the children who bore no love for science; especially when manual labor and security was already replaced by machines.

"Blue!"

His head whipped up and over to the source of the voice, watching Piper struggle to free herself from the restraint of a single courser who'd ensnared her wrist. He looked at Father, who cocked his head to the side and silently urged John to continue to follow.

"Blue, help me!"

John's brow furrowed; he didn't know what to say. He should have been safe to tell her they wouldn't harm her - not that she'd believe that - if Father truly intended to stay true to his word, but John didn't want to jeopardize their deal and threaten everybody's safety. All he could do was mouth a silent apology, and turned his back to her. Her next words dumped a bucket of ice-cold water down his back.

"Snap out of it, dammit! We have to fight, or they're going to kill us; I saw them take Nick _apart _and I'm next!"

"What?" John glared when Father froze, narrowing his eyes when the elderly man tiredly scuffled around. "You promised they'd be safe!"

"Yes, unfortunately our conversation happened _after_ the prototype was already dismantled to recycle it's parts for new projects and research endeavors."

"And when did you plan on having the conversation that informed me of Nick's death?"

"Death? Machines cannot experience death. The real Nick Valentine died centuries ago." Father's forehead creased, audacious enough to be _confused. _"If you'd like, we can transfer what we extracted from the prototype and upload that into a new body. However, not all things may successfully carry over if modules of data have been subject to corruption."

Piper's cusses drowned out to the deafening white noise that buzzed inside of John's brain. His blood boiled and he hugged his army helmet to his chest ever tighter, as memories flashed by him in the blink of an eye. He hadn't spent much time with Nick, but quantity was never as important as _quality;_ and the detective was instrumental in helping John keep the will to fight in his search for his family.

Now Nick was gone. Just like that. In a few seconds, in a few words... If only John was brought earlier to Father. If only he got straight to the point and made their deal right away. If only he was just a minute faster; it was a story he was all too familiar with. More memories - old, fuzzy, stretching from his life before the cryo pods - banged at the gates to be let in. And then all at once, like a light switch, he turned off. Hot blood snap-froze and washed over him with a _practiced_ numbing cold.

"Piper," he murmured, turning to the screaming woman. He tried again, louder, to catch her attention. "Piper! Stop fighting."

"To hell with that!" Her black trench coat tore at the seams of her shoulder when she thrashed again. "I came into this world kicking and screaming, and I'm going out that way too!"

"You're not going to die, I promise you that." John ignored Father - even if he hadn't seemed to react, but appearances could be deceiving - and marched over to Piper, glaring at the blank-faced courser who calmly countered and overpowered her every effort to break free. John tossed his army helmet aside on one of the tables and grabbed her shoulders, staring at her hard in her eyes. Sweat slicked her complexion, and her pupils were dilated in fear. He squeezed her firmly. "Piper, look at me. Listen to me and my next words very carefully: _n__o one else _is going to die. I'm doing everything I can, but you'll just have to be... Patient."

"_No._" It trembled under her breath, and she weakly jerked her wrist away, unable to break free from the courser's grip. Her head hung in defeat and she chewed her lip. "They killed Nick, Blue. Just like that. They didn't even hesitate, or let him finish talking to me. And now they've copied me and want to kill me too - they told Garrett that much. They tricked him. They've got his family, and your family, and it's only going to be a matter of time before they get my family too. They're going to kill-"

"Look at me," John interrupted sternly, waiting until she did - it felt like ages. He cocked his head to the side and glanced over his shoulder, then back at her. "That man is the leader of the Institute and..." He dropped his voice ever lower, sighing it out. "He's my son, Shaun."

Piper's eyes widened in shock, and then her nostrils flared with contempt as she spat. "_He's _in charge of all of this? He ordered Nick to be killed, then!"

"N-no! At least, I don't think... I don't know." John tried not to look at the courser. There was no point to lowering his voice; even if Father hadn't heard them, the courser would and would just report it all. John reluctantly let go of Piper, urging, "just trust me. I've worked out a deal, they won't harm anybody anymore."

"At what _cost, _Blue?"

John stared at her long and hard. _H__ope _shut off, and his fire extinguished. He turned around and collected his helmet on his way back to Father. "None you'll have to pay."

**x - x - x**

"Living room is clear," Sarah announced as she entered the one Luki was in, who was still combing through every single piece of furniture for any potential planted bugs. He fell on his haunches with a dejected sigh, raking his oily bangs out of his face - oh, what he'd _give_ for a decent bath right now. He stopped when smaller fingers wove through his hair, gently guiding his head to lull back and rest against Sarah's thighs. He looked up at her, her upside down smile looked more like a frown - and no doubt what she was actually feeling. "Chin up, soldier. We haven't turned up anything; they aren't spying on us."

"We don't know what we're looking for, either. Anything could be a camera or a bug. They made cameras out of _ravens._" He waved dismissively at one of the vases on the dressers - or at least, what he _thought_ functioned as one. "For all we know, they've learned how to construct and embed them in the actual ceramic itself."

Sarah left him, and cold air laced his nape. He worked himself up into standing and was too slow to stop her when she lifted the vase and hopped up on the bed, then dropped it on the other side. They both cringed at the sounds of it shattering, but it was soon replaced by Sarah smirking when she squatted on the edge of the bed. "Still don't see anything." She twisted to look at him, and rolled her eyes when he crossed his arms, thoroughly unconvinced. "I regret ordering you to search; I order you to _give up_ your search. There. Done."

"Sarah-"

"We can't do anything whether they hear us or not, Luki. We'll just have to wait and see what they intend to demand of us; if they assigned us this room, then maybe they're going to want us to work for them like that asshole with the robot accent." She toed off her combat boots, crushing a few more pieces of the broken vase when they'd fallen off the bed. "If they can hear us, then your new mission objective is to make them regret it then; and this mission is top priority." She slid under the sheets - clothes and all - and smiled seductively at him; it contrasted the serious hardened look in her eyes, and her playful pat on the empty space beside her carried weight.

Within seconds, he joined her, tugging the sheets over their heads. She laid a series of quick chaste kisses along the chiseled line of his jaw and whispered in his ear.

"_Moan._"

"What?" Luki groaned instead, pulling away to frown at her - not that he could see her in the darkness. "No way. You moan."

That sharp inhale of hers made it abundantly clear that there were _fatal_ consequences. "Giving me lip and disobeying my order, soldier?"

Luki rolled his eyes and sucked in a breath, steeling himself. He'd felt awkward and heat flushed at his nose when he faked a low and drawn out moan; his skin tingled when her hand accidentally caught under his shirt, though she didn't take it out. He was firmly held by his nape and she whispered in his ear the moment he finished.

"Moan again."

...Was this actually to conceal their conversation? He was sure he was going to land himself in hot water for this, but he _had_ to ask. "Uh, is this foreplay, Sarah?"

"Shut up," she laughed and tightened her hold on his neck as she aggressively raked her blunt nails down his chest, goading a hiss from him.

This was _not_ answering his question.

"Moan again," she ordered sternly, and the moment he did, she whispered in his ear. "We need to find things to write with, then we can use your pip-boy's light under here."

"Ooh, it'll be like reading comic books past bedtime," he snorted childishly, and there was a sudden deafening and heavy pause in the air. When she inhaled slowly, he moaned, grinning when he could almost hear her rolling her eyes on top of it all. "Ooh, Sarah, honey... You always know how to _really _get me going. Of course I'll read comic books with you."

Nevermind that small selfish thought, wishing she actually _would - _get him going, that was.

And maybe read comic books too.

"All these years and you still haven't matured a bit, dork," she chastised lightheartedly, the two chuckling in between breaths. Some of the tension melted away from his shoulders when her lips traced a path back to his. "_Moan,_" she ordered again; and he was positive it was _not_ to conceal their conversation when she unzipped his pants and teased him through his boxers.

Well. She _did_ give him his new objective.

They seriously needed to get their priorities straight.

**x - x - x**

Pain pounded at the base of his skull and he sat up, groaning and immediately regretting it. He fell down with a huff and clutched his head, turning back and forth on his side. His tongue felt like cotton, and the world was so bright, it hurt to have his eyes open even for a second. He stole looks sparingly, and took his sweet time to sit up when he realized he recognized this room. Somewhat. Maybe. Maybe not at all.

It was hard to think past the fog gripping him. Was he medicated?

Another sharp pang split down his skull, making him wish he _was_ medicated. He groaned and groggily stood, slumping his way over to what looked like a mirror. He felt as though he was trapped in a nightmare, waiting for the next horrible thing to happen to him; and it all started with a certain reporter roping him into this mess in the first place. The mirror reflected a horror scene and he looked down at himself as he roved a hand across his chest, his heart beating harder - though somehow subdued - at the sight of ghastly surgical scars all over his body.

Something hissed somewhere, and his head pounded when a perky voice shot up at what sounded like it was on the other side of the Commonwealth. He gripped some sort of table to stabilize himself and stop from swaying as he took a long hard look at the mirror. The nightmare never stopped. He reeled back in horror at the sight of his eyes - yellow glowing rings replaced his iris, and the sclera that was once white was now a dull grey mechanical part. He reached to touch underneath them, hands trembling.

"Ah, yes, your eyes. Those gave me quite some trouble," the perky voice sounded closer, and he held on to the table tighter when he nearly stumbled just twisting to look at who it was. "To be honest, I wasn't even entirely sure if they'd work - actually, I wasn't even sure if it was possible to bring you back to life; but it looks like you can breathe and see, so that's a success. Are you able to control your lens and adjust the angle of your cone of vision?"

He turned and nearly fell on the table, clinging to the edges for dear life. Could the world stop spinning? Could this asshole stop attacking him with questions that didn't even make any fucking sense? He had some questions of his own, too. Namely: "who the fuck are you?"

"Hm? Ah, how careless of me. Forgive me, it certainly wasn't my intention to be so rude. Introductions are well in order." The perky thin little man bounced on his feet too much, slapping a proud hand over his chest. "You may call me Adam." He picked out some sort of pen out of his oversized lab coat and came up, switching on some sort of light from the pen, and it made the world even excruciatingly brighter when he waved it over the eyes. "Do you remember who _you_ are?"

It took a minute. He didn't believe what came out of his mouth, despite what he so clearly remembered last.

"...Leo."

**x - x - x**

Gat struggled to tame the leg that wanted to race up and down as he sat waiting on the couch, idly stroking away the hair of the girl that fell asleep on his lap. He looked down and smiled sadly, stroking Rose's cheek as he studied how peaceful she looked. He shouldn't have seen this - he wasn't allowed this moment of peace, and closed his eyes when they began to burn.

"Rose? Where are you?" His sister called out softly, and he looked up at the woman sleeping on the bed. She blinked blearily, rubbing her eyes, and visibly deflated with relief when her eyes fell on Rose. Then she grew rigid as her gaze snapped to Gat. "Does that mean...?"

"It's done." Gat bowed his head in shame and closed his eyes again, seeking meager scraps of comfort as he tuned in to the sensation of his niece's hair twirling around his finger. "We should be freed soon, but I doubt we'll be off with a merry wave. They're either going to keep watch on us so we don't spread their secrets, or..." He sucked in the corner of his lip, then sighed. "I'm a loose end. They'll tie me up or burn me." A deep, shaky, breath. He buried his head in his hand, his voice cracking and fading. "I'm sorry, Garnet. I ruined our lives."

Silence fell between them, and he jumped in his skin when a gentle hand came upon his shoulder. He hadn't heard the bed creak; then again, everything here was spanking new, and not rusted over 200 years. His sister limped closer and slowly knelt - wincing as she folded the leg that was broken - and smiled, calm as the ocean, burying the sorrow in the depths. She drew him in until their foreheads knocked together. "No, you didn't. You've given us our lives back."

"Garnet-"

"Listen to me. When dad was alive, you did everything you could to protect me - and then made sure he _wasn't_ so that you could protect Rose too. You've had to give up your own life and heart just to take on his jobs to protect us. Now you're here. You've sacrificed everything you had left just so that we can keep living. But Garrett..." She sucked in a slow breath, hugging him tighter. "After we're free, you're not responsible for us anymore."

"W-what? No, I-"

"_Listen_ to me. You're going to sacrifice everything until you have nothing left to sacrifice, and that's no life."

"You two _are_ my life."

"No. We're part of it, but we aren't _it._ That woman... I saw the faces you made." Garnet drew back and kissed his forehead; her lips were wet, for some reason, and then he pieced it together when he looked up and saw tear streaks down her cheeks. She still smiled ever so bravely. "I saw the light in your eyes that _wasn't there before_ get snuffed out when you found out she was your job - when she was supposed to be your life, your future."

Gat looked away. "She's... Not anymore."

Beeps alerted them, and Gat immediately scowled. He took his sweet time as he picked Rose up from his lap - stilling when she stirred every now and then - and carried her to the bed. He went to answer the door, grateful his sister lingered close behind him, a hand between his shoulder blades for support. He needed every bit of it. His legs felt like they were going to give away on every step. Another beep, and he rolled his eyes. "So bloody impatient." He hit the button for the door to slide open, crossing his arms when he came face to face with a blank-faced courser. "Yeah? What th'hell d'ya want now?"

"Your presence has been requested, sir." Chris'sakes, how can they even manage to sound so _dead?_ "I am here to escort you."

"What'm I now, a dog?"

"I cannot answer that, sir. Please follow me." The courser's eyes flicked over Garnet, then back at Gat. "Alone."

"Garrett," his sister murmured with worry - rightly so. He shook his head and forced the most reassuring smile that he could as he turned around and gave her quick hug.

"I'll be alright, luv. Be back in a jiffy."

"Garr-"

"Promise." He stole a swift kiss on her cheek too, and squeezed her hand before he crossed the line and hastily pressed the button to close the door. Every sensation was engraved in his memory even if it were a matter of seconds, because he'd learned that that might be all he would have _left, _but he didn't want her to believe he really was walking to his grave. His sister and niece have been tortured enough. He turned to the courser and dismissively waved ahead. "Alright, go on. Lead me wherever."

"Actually, sir," the courser turned around and pointed to the other end of the hallway. "We are going this way."

"Oh, Jesus," Gat groaned under his breath. He shook his head and waved dismissively to the _other end_ of the hallway, then. "There, alright? Go on, now. Lead me wherever."

"Right away, sir."

Hopefully it wouldn't lead him to his death.

**x - x - x**

Piper inspected every inch of the room allotted to her, but found herself gravitating towards the balcony the most. She stepped out and observed the bustle of this underground city, where a sea of white coats moved like ocean currents. She leaned on the railing and took out her notepad, drawing sketches of this place as best as she could.

No one would probably _ever_ get their hands on this, but it was worth a try.

What the hell did John mean, though? Just what kind of deal did he strike that was worthy enough to stop the Institute from doing what it wanted to do with all of them? What kind of price was going to be paid, and _who_ was the one picking up the tab?

Millions of questions raced through her mind, and she jotted them down on the very last page of her notepad as she jumped between that and the sketches. Her stomach gnarled in knots when she heard children laughing and playing in the most expansive open-spaced part of the Institute; this peaceful scenery was an illusion to hide the sick underbelly of what this organization was doing to the Commonwealth. It sickened her to know that the innocence in those kids were corrupted before they could even know any better to figure out what was moral and what wasn't.

Maybe that's why the Institute had no trouble doing what they did. Those kids eventually grew into adults who just didn't know any better, who didn't have the chance to learn about _empathy_ and basic _humanity_ in their childhood.

...But maybe this was all her own perspective clouding her judgment as well.

Could she be blamed, after everything she had just been through in the span of a week? After what everyone in the wasteland had been through in the course over the years? After what they did to _Nick?_ If she was going to be spared because of John's deal, she was going to use this opportunity to get the answers everyone deserved, and to find out the root cause of why the hell the Institute _needed_ to kidnap wastelanders and replace them, when they had their own population to 'copy DNA' from. Furthermore, it was baffling how not one soul questioned the wrongdoing behind their methods; all it would take was one simple question, and she wrote in her notepad.

_'How would I feel if that happened to me?__'_

It wasn't like empathy was a hard thing to learn, with hardship easy to stumble upon. Maybe not down here. There was a slight twinge of jealousy at just how easy things were here, as she discovered during her room inspection. There was an actual working shower and toilet - no more lugging buckets of dirty water and boiling it to make sure it was actually sanitary. No more squatting over a bucket, too. No more hunting and grilling mutated insects, or eating 200 year old stale food.

All she had to do was press a button in some sort of dispenser, choose what she wanted, and out popped a surprisingly delicious and nutritious bar of some sort. She didn't understand what in the world the ingredients were on the label, and she was honestly surprised to see something like that even _listed _on there.

Something hissed inside and she tensed, sticking to the corner as she stole a nonchalant peek into her room. Her skin crawled at the sight of the courser she struggled with earlier - such a scrawny looking thing, but it gave her bruises on her wrist. She shuddered when the courser's eyes locked on her before it even scanned the room for where she was, it's monotone voice something that would surely haunt her for nights to come.

"I have brought your visitor, ma'am. Please let me know if there is anything else I can assist with."

What a sick fucking joke, a complete 180 of what he was ordered to do to her earlier. Now it was like he was a Mr. Handy in the flesh. She didn't dare antagonize the courser and lose this surprising privilege, though. Piper came into the room, smiling small when her gaze connected with Garrett, who's eyes widened in shock. She looked at the courser and mustered the most polite voice she could possibly have, despite all this crap. "Would it be too much to ask for privacy with him?"

"It is not a problem, ma'am, do not worry. Should you need anything, I am stationed to guard outside your door."

"Alright, thank you."

With that, the courser left, and a cold draft fell on the room. Neither knew what to say - what move to make. Piper chewed her lip when Garrett glared at the floor, his grey eyes growing sheen. Instinct propelled her and she reached for him, but he took a step back and held out his hand. "No."

"Garre-"

"You're not allowed to use my name, _thing._" That was like a slap to the face, and her jaw hung agape. Her throat tightened and she tried to approach him, but he barked callously. "Stay away, y'fuckin' freak! Just 'cause you look like her doesn't mean you _are_ her, and you will never be like her, y'hear me?" His head whipped up in a fury, snarling menacingly. "You're just a fuckin' soulless machine with stolen memories. None of them are yours!"

"I swear I'm not a synth," Piper urged, trying to swallow the hurt. She understood, and she should have known better than to approach him like this. "I swear I'm not a synth," she insisted, but she wasn't sure if she was trying to convince him more than _herself._ "John worked a deal with the Institute and saved us. No one's dead, except N..." A lump choked her off. She refused to come to terms with it, but it wasn't a reality she could run away from. It still felt surreal, taking it's sweet time sinking in. She didn't want it to. "Except... Nick..."

"Oh, yeah, like I'm gonna believe that now. Y'think I'm really that bloody stupid?"

"_Yes,_" she hissed, "because you're yelling at me. You should be able to tell the difference better than anyone else here."

"The difference, huh?" Garrett growled as he stomped up to her. "That's why I **know **you're not her. Let me ask you something, _puppet._ Listen and think 'bout all this _real_ carefully... Did they stuff you in a tiny pod? Drown you in liquid that was 'safe to breathe'?"

Piper wanted to smack this asshole, and it was getting harder to stay calm, to stay _understanding._ Tears burned hot in her eyes and the world grew misty, but she refused to let it show that he was hurting her. She nodded to his question, wondering how he knew, wondering if he had to go through the same thing - and what that implied. The Institute could make copies of them at any time.

"And where did you wake up after that, puppet?"

"Here. I've been here the whole time." It was an answer she was so sure of, and yet for some reason, something felt like it was missing from a puzzle.

Garrett angled his head and stared hard into her eyes.

"Then when did you find out about the detective and the 'deal'? And why else would that courser be kissing your ass now, huh? Just think long and hard about that."

Piper froze, her breath caught. Goosebumps chased after shivers, and she was unhinged by doubt. "I... I had to of..." She was there. She remembered being there. She rolled up her sleeve and showed him the bruise on her wrist. "That courser gave me this when I was trying to break free of him." When, though? Too many things happened and it was all a blur, as if she was stuck in a dream. What was the order of events? Why did she still feel so spaced out? Was she really...?

"I'm... I'm not a synth... I can't be."

"You are. You're just a fucking puppet, and they ain't even gonna give you a chance to live the way the _real_ Piper would. They're just gonna play with yer strings and manipulate you to fuck over the entire wasteland. The Piper **I** know would rather _die_ than do that." He turned sharply and marched for the door, his hands balled into tight fists. He stopped and sucked in a noisy breath, but it was let out in a mournful cry when he stumbled and grabbed hold of one of the couches. She rushed to his side out of instinct, but the moment she touched him, he slapped her hand away. Pain zinged up her bruised wrist and she cried out, cradling it close to her chest. Within seconds, the courser was back in the room, weapon aimed at Garrett. The courser looked at her.

"Would you like me to evict him, ma'am?"

"No fuckin' need, I'd be _happy_ to show myself out." Garrett seethed as stormed off, and the courser tailed after him, reminding him that he needed to be escorted in the facilities. Their voices faded and Piper was left standing, crying as she stared at the open door. Another face popped by - a courser by the looks of the long black coat, and he pressed the button to close the door.

Dazed, she gravitated to the balcony one last time. She took out her notepad, flipping through the pages. The last page of facts, the first page of sketches. Should it not be of facts, of interviews? She remembered them, but she didn't remember getting a new notepad. She looked down and smoothed her hand over her precious red jacket - but it wasn't precious to _her. _She took it off along with her hat, and left them on the chair.

Piper glanced beside her at a stack of comic books on a table, writing one last thing down in the notepad before she hid it in the stack.

...And jumped over the railing to her death.


	10. Terms of the Contract

_**[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE**_**_]  
Chapter 10: Terms of the Contract  
_**

* * *

"This isn't happening," Leo muttered to himself over and over again, but it never changed a thing. He was sick to his stomach, shaking with anger - anger at himself, at whoever... _Killed _him... And the perky doctor who wizened up and called for a couple guards to protect him after Leo threatened to kill him.

A threat, he learned, that 'Adam' cheerfully claimed he got often; the smug scientist even seemed quite proud of the fact.

Every look at the mirror only drove the point deeper as Leo ran his hands along his surgical scars. He tried to avoid his own eyes, slicking back his hair - or where hair _should_ have been had his proud pompadour not been shaved off - as he inspected every single thing that was done to his body. Did they take organs? He didn't feel weaker; in fact, he felt _stronger._ Was he a robot now? The eyes proved it, but he heard stories about synths that were indistinguishable from human, and saw it for himself with the wires from the lady Piper killed in the subway.

_...Piper..._

Bile rose in Leo's throat and he hunched over on the bed, cradling his head. He was scared of closing his eyes, of seeing the man he was about to become when blinded by unbridled rage. Now this was his punishment - it was, wasn't it? It was a fitting one; and still it wasn't enough to make a dent as guilt made his intestines twist with barb wire as vomit stayed ready at the base of his throat at all times.

"This isn't happening..."

This was a nightmare. It had to be. Would karma be this cruel?

Beeps alerted him and his head whipped up when a door hissed open somewhere. The cheerful footsteps announced who it was even before they came into view, and despair gripped Leo's soul when Adam appeared at the doorway, extending his arms as if he was performing for some sort of theatrical play. He held a folder in his hand.

"Ah, good morning, Mr. Lyons! I was hoping you'd be up."

"Morning?" Leo wiped his eyes - not that they were even fatigued, but the habit was still there - and glanced around for a clock. It was surprisingly dark 'outside' from what he could see through his window. He frowned when Adam strode in front of him and cheekily offered a watch; that was some bravado from a skinny little prick who could be snapped over the knee. Leo was _not_ amused at the time displayed, and he glared up at the scientist. "Are you fucking kidding me right now? It's 3 in the morning, what the fuck could you even want from me? And my name is Leo, not Lion."

"Well, clearly you're not sleeping-" wasn't he going to wake Leo up anyways? "-so that means that's time better spent on a project. I pride myself on efficiency, after all. Also: is such vulgar language necessary? It takes away time and studies have shown that the more you use it, the less effective it is... _Mr. Lyons._"

Great, now Adam was going to do this on purpose. Arrogant asshole; karma was hard at work again, giving Leo a taste of his own medicine. He narrowed his eyes, biting his tongue before he dug himself a deeper hole with the things he truly wanted to say. "What kind of project?"

Something about the way Adam smiled - so innocent, so _full of shit _\- brought with it a new level of dread as he dropped the folder in Leo's lap. "I shouldn't have to say this, but do make it a habit to familiarize yourself with every detail so that you know what you're getting into. You don't want to learn what happens if not - as Mr. Butler did."

"Mr. Butler...?" Leo opened the folder, and froze at the picture. His throat tightened and his head snapped up to Adam, who showed his true colors in his snake-like smile.

"You may know him as 'Sarge' or 'Sergeant'." Adam leaned down and tapped the picture of Piper. "His task was to apprehend Piper Wright and bring her to the Institute."

A beat.

"And your task is to protect her."

Karma would, in fact, be this cruel - and even find humor in it.

**x - x - x**

Gat couldn't erase the image from his mind. He couldn't make himself look away at the time, either. The mangled _flat_ body with limbs bent at grotesque angles and _red paint_ pooling, the screams echoing in the atrium, the flood of coursers to control the situation and the wave of plastic synths coming with their buckets and mops to clean everything up as quickly and efficiently as possible. In a matter of minutes, Piper Wright #2 was erased from existence. How many more would there be?

He _committed_ it to memory as punishment for how much faster they had cleaned up the real Piper. Did they really think they could fool him with the fake one? They hadn't even been bothered to replicate every detail of her red coat. He dumped himself on the couch and smiled tiredly whenever he heard Rose in the bedroom, urging his sister to hurry up so that they could say hi to daddy. He fished in his pockets until he took out a heavy metal - a heavy medal - and thumbed over the bullet lodged off center.

"Garrett?"

Piper's voice. His head snapped up, not believing his ears. Another numbing cold washed over him when he saw his sister standing at the doorway, and he pieced two and two together - only to snap him in two. His head fell in his hands and the medal chafed against his ear, the sting accompanying the accidental slice when he jerked as a powerful sob wracked him. He didn't care about the blood that slowly trickled down.

Arms were around him within a second, though Rose and Garnet's voice bled out to the white noise. "This isn't fair," he croaked pitifully. "She never deserved any of this. Why do the bad guys always win? Wish I could turn back time and just... I don't know... Wish I could make sure the light beat the dark, somehow."

"Who are you talking about, daddy?" Rose climbed up on his back, an arm loosely hanging on his back as she swung under, in his face. Her big curious eyes took up his world, and she still smiled; he tried his best to cherish it, because that innocence wasn't going to last forever - especially not in this place. "Don't cry, daddy. The bad guys haven't won. They can't and never will, 'cause you're here to keep them away."

Gat chewed his lip and chuckled halfheartedly, nodding. He didn't know what to say, so he settled. "Thanks, honey. Daddy will do his best." He wondered if Rose was even aware what was going on, and who she thought were the bad guys. Garnet went searching for a napkin and wiped the blood off his cheek, then applied pressure to his ear. He stiffened when she finished and drew them both in a hug, leaving a cryptic whisper in his ear.

"I think there's still time for light to beat the dark."

**x - x - x**

Sarah stirred at the sounds of beeping, followed by hissing. She drew the blankets to her chest as she sat up against the headboard, tapping Luki's shoulder. He yawned and took his sweet damn time waking up until she pinched his shoulder, and he groaned as his hand slapped over where she pinched, shooting her an indignant look. "Hello and love you to you too, sweetie. Now what was that for?"

"Get dressed. Someone's here," she murmured under her breath, her gaze fixated on their door. She leaned over the bed and collected his pants, throwing it at him. She quickly kicked her legs over the edge to wiggle in her bra and underwear, deigning to put on Luki's shirt since it was the closest. It fit more like a damn dress on her.

"Ms. Lyons?" Came a monotone voice just outside their door. "If you are in appropriate attire, I would like to enter."

Sarah exchanged looks with Luki, and she waved him over to come off her side to avoid the shattered ceramic on his. "Appropriate enough," she stated, ignoring the way Luki's face fell flat in her peripheral vision. She rolled her eyes when he protectively covered her with his body as he leaned offside and plucked her pants, tossing it over his shoulder before he twisted to block her body from the man that entered the room. She didn't waste any time. "State your business. What does the Institute want from us?"

Another man entered the room, and Luki nudged her with his elbow as he glanced over his shoulder, making it a point to stare at the pants in her hands. She groaned exasperatedly as she wrestled a leg through. "_Men,_" she grumbled, "I'll never understand why you care so much. They're just robots, and it's just skin."

"Doesn't matter," Luki muttered, his voice dropping several notches as he nearly growled at the two men. "It's not polite to stare at a lady who's changing. Turn around."

Neither complied. The one clasped his wrists behind him. "I will not. She stated herself she is 'appropriate enough', and do not think we will expose ourselves to be attacked so easily. You will not be able to escape the Institute unless we allow it. Now, as Ms. Lyons requested an answer - the Institute will be acquiring your services. Both of you will be infiltrating the Brotherhood of Steel."

"What? No way!" Luki snapped up into standing, immediately setting the second silent man on alert as he lifted his laser rifle. Sarah grabbed Luki by his waistband and tugged him harshly until he sat back on the bed, and he shot her a worried look before back at the guards. "If we go back and they recognize us, they'll assassinate her or put us to death by firing squad. That's why we-"

"They already know our history and what we're capable of," Sarah murmured, her eyes never leaving the designated negotiator. "They wouldn't ask this, otherwise."

"Astute and precise observation, Ms. Lyons. We do have intel for you to feed the Brotherhood that we believe would be valuable enough to prevent whatever petty reason they wish to execute you for, provided you are intelligent enough in how you handle our intel. We are not liable for the consequences that befall you, if not."

What a charmer.

"Petty?" Sarah smirked wryly. "Their politics can't be any different than the _petty_ politics in the Institute."

"There is no such thing. All divisions operate as one harmonious unit, unlike the filth on the surface."

"You sure about that?" She finally threaded her other leg into her pants and rose off the bed to tug it up her waist, turning to them after she buttoned it. She strode to come face to face with the robot, who hadn't moved a muscle. The silent one had, adjusting his aim to her, and she could hear Luki bristle behind her. "In my experience - and believe me, I've had _plenty_ of them - every organization has suffered from power struggles, whether out in the open or behind closed doors; it's just above your rank to know. You're only a pawn."

"Save your breath and don't waste our time, Ms. Lyons. Your attempts to manipulate me and extract information will not work."

Sarah shrugged and strode back to the bed, taking off Luki's shirt as she smiled at him. She loved the face he made, the eyes that screamed there would be retribution for this later, and tossed his shirt at him as she picked hers off the floor. It's not like she was _naked. _She was still wearing her bra - and for crying out loud, did he forget his time in the military already? There was no such thing as privacy.

At least it was easy to read his mind. As she pulled her head through her shirt, she turned around and leveled her gaze on the negotiator. "Regardless of what you offer, we decline. We will not infiltrate the Brotherhood, nor will we work for the Institute. _Ever._"

"I thought you'd say that." The negotiator looked at the second guard and gestured to the door. "Bring Ms. Wright in."

Sarah looked over when Luki's knee pressed against her, his neck muscles rippling as his jaw tensed. The pieces fell into place when they brought in Piper, who was wrestling in vain, bound and blindfolded and gagged, kicked behind the knees to force her to the ground in front of the two. The negotiator pulled out a pistol - a .32 Sarah immediately recognized as _hers_ \- and jammed the barrel to the back of Piper's head, his callous eyes fixated on Sarah.

"I will execute her right here if you do not reconsider. Will you?"

Silence, and then Piper's muffled screams filled the room. Luki's knee pressed harder against Sarah, and she grit her teeth. She didn't tear her eyes away from the blindfolded woman.

"No."

Luki's cuss filled her ears the moment the negotiator pulled the trigger, and blood sprayed, the bullet ripping straight through and lodging itself just a scant few inches away from Sarah's feet. Piper slumped limply in an ungraceful mess, as all dead people do. Sarah had seen more than enough death in her lifetime, but it still never got any easier. She couldn't bring herself to look at Luki when his head fell in his hands, a hail of curses slewed under his breath. They both knew what was at stake. He _knew_ she couldn't say yes. This was for the greater good.

...Did that justification ever matter?

"Bring in Mr. Lyons," the negotiator demanded of the guard, and Sarah swore her heart stopped beating for a moment. She struggled to feign indifference when they had brought in her half-brother, his idiotic pompadour a mess from the blindfold chafing around his head. They positioned him directly beside Piper, her blood soaking through the knees of his trousers. They would have to work harder than this to make her fall for the ruse; did they not know that she had already witnessed his death? "I will ask one more time, Ms. Lyons. Will you reconsider?"

"No."

Another gunshot, and Luki jumped in his seat, clasping his hands in front of his forehead as he whispered cusses in between his prayers.

"Bring in Mrs. Howard." The announcement only closed Sarah's heart off as she crossed her arms behind her, standing at attention like a soldier. She didn't know who Howard was, and she was as prepared as anyone could be - responsible for the blood of innocents all over her hands. It wouldn't be the first time, or the last. She wouldn't break. She _couldn't._ The Brotherhood was this wasteland's only chance of defeating the Institute; the Railroad weren't well equipped to take on a beast like this.

Who was she to decide the deaths of a precious few to save the many, though?

When another woman was brought in - a young woman she didn't recognize, she looked over at Luki. He seemed just as confused, and the two froze when the negotiator's cold voice cut through. "This is the wife of the man you know as 'John'; the mother of Shaun." The muffled cries weighed down and Sarah couldn't bring herself to look when she heard the gun cock, closing her eyes as her practiced numbness was threatened by memories. "Are you prepared to condemn another child to grow up without their mother, as you did, Ms. Lyons?"

Jesus, just how much did the Institute know about them all?

"Are you prepared to make John a widow?"

"If it's what I have to-" she started, but Luki cut her off with a hiss.

"They're not going to stop killing, Sarah. Just... Just say yes. We'll do it. We'll infiltrate the Brotherhood - at least, I will."

"**Luki.**" Her eyes snapped open, glaring at him. He rose from the bed and approached the negotiator. "Luki, don't do it. You know what's at stake."

"I do, but these people have nothing to do with what's at stake for _us._"

"For the Commonwealth," Sarah corrected, her nostrils flaring at the sight of the negotiator's smug and victorious smirk. "Luki, this is a direct order. Stand down." She sucked in a breath, and became uncomfortably tuned in to the way her innards quivered with _fear_ as she watched Luki's shoulders set sternly. Strength gradually faded from her knees the longer she was cut off from his eyes, and she honest to god _prayed_ he wasn't going to go through with this. She couldn't afford to beg or appear weak though, to have the rest of her authority diminished.

Authority? What a joke. Sarah's gaze panned to Piper, face down in her own blood. A faint memory plucked at Sarah before she had the chance to shut it behind the gates.

_"Get your ass in here already then, civilian."_

_"Civilian? Last I checked, you're one too. You did say you're not with the Brotherhood anymore."_

It wasn't enough to lose father. It wasn't enough to lose the Brotherhood, and force herself to walk away from her Brothers and Sisters for her own safety. It wasn't enough to lose her only family member left - and to witness the monstrosity of a lookalike die in front of her again, helpless as she always was. It wasn't enough to lose Luki, too. There was nothing left to lose.

"Luki," she tried again, her voice warbling. "You're spitting on Piper's sacrifice if you do this."

"A sacrifice she was never asked to make!" He snapped heatedly as he turned to her - and she dearly wanted to make a move for the second guard's gun just to shoot the negotiator's smirk off his face. "And a sacrifice I refuse to let the General make; not after all he's been through to find his family here, the sacrifices he's already made to help the Commonwealth before himself. Our promise died with Leo, and the Brotherhood would sooner execute us just to protect themselves. What loyalty do we owe them, after how they spat on _our_ sacrifices? To hell with the Brotherhood. They haven't helped the Commonwealth one bit, but John has. My allegiance lies with the _Minutemen._"

Sarah's jaw set as a plethora of arguments surged to the front of her mind, but she saw the fire in his eyes. That damned idiot was going off just like his damn dad now. She watched as Luki knelt and picked up the last bound woman, who whimpered and shook in terror. He turned to the negotiator. "Give Sarah time to think on it. I know she'll change her mind and infiltrate the Brotherhood with me as well."

This kind of insubordinate attitude from him better mean what she hoped it meant, but likely not. He never had the stomach for the tough calls that nobody wanted to make - not even her. Why couldn't he just understand that she was hurting and didn't want to, too? Why couldn't he just have her back the way she always had his?

"Don't make promises for me. I'm not disloyal like _you,_" she scoffed as she crossed her arms and turned around. Her heart rammed in between her ears and she felt dizzy, frustrated to have been openly defied and diminished by the one man she had fought so hard to trust with her heart. This was why she couldn't. The negotiator bled out to the white noise and she looked behind her only when she heard the hissing of a door shut somewhere. She was left all alone with the two bodies in her room, until a few plastic synths came in to clean the _mess_ left behind. Sarah watched them closely, grimacing at the crude way they handled the bodies, dragging out Leo first by 'his' ankles.

"Like vultures," she muttered, approaching the body of Piper before they took her away. The machine stood and watched her back just as closely, and she ignored it as she knelt. She had to see it for herself. She twisted Piper on her back and removed the blindfold and gag, suppressing a shudder at the glassy eyes wide open. The bullet went straight through.

And Sarah smirked at the sight of a wire peeking out the forehead.

**x - x - x**

John wasn't sure who he was supposed to have a reunion with. He didn't recognize the elderly woman in a motorized wheelchair, facing sideways as she looked out of a window - what was she staring at? It was dark 'outside', simulating some sort of night shift. He reluctantly approached her when Shaun left the room to give them privacy and gently rapped his knuckles against the wall, smiling apologetically when the frail woman jumped in her wheelchair. The moment she looked at him, her eyes lit up and she clapped with glee.

"Oh! Oh, Nate, you're back!" _Nate? _She knew who he was then, apparently; or maybe got him confused with someone else. "You're finally back... Welcome home. I've heard so many things about what the communists were doing in Anchorage, and I feared that... Oh, I'm just so glad you're safe." The wheelchair hummed to life as she rolled closer to him, reaching for his face with weathered fingers and a wrinkled grin that dimpled her cheek. It hit him hard.

He couldn't erase the memory even if he wanted to.

"I've spent every night baking your favorite dish, so that it'd be fresh just for you. I know it's night time, but we should take it and go to the park and celebrate. It's still warm enough, but I bet anything will be better than Alaska, right? It'll be a nice reminder for you that you're _safe _and not in a war zone and... Why aren't you saying anything, Nate? Is something the matter? Are you hurt anywhere?" The weathered fingers pattered around his face in a feverish inspection, and he was teetering on the edge as his throat closed up on him.

"Nate?" Her willowy tone became more stern and bossy as her emerald eyes narrowed; eyes he fell in love with, so long ago. "Are you listening to me, mister?"

"Y-yes ma'am, of course. I'm not hurt anywhere."

That dimpled grin grew and she tapped his cheek, then framed his jaw as she pulled him in for a _kiss._ "Good. That's what I wanted to hear, soldier."

It couldn't get any worse than this. It couldn't, because the worst had come to life. He was _too_ _late._ He'd already lost his family. He stood there, wishing he was at least physically hurt to drown out the agony that was ripping him apart inside. He could feel the snot and tears coming as he struggled to maintain his composure, but it all fell apart when _Nora_ leaned back in her wheelchair and stared at him with eyes widening in shock. Then she clapped with glee.

"Oh! Oh, Nate, you're back! You're finally back..." She reached for him and pulled him down for another kiss, whispering against his lips. "_Welcome home._"

John wished he was _too late_ from entering the vault with his family instead.

**x - x - x**

Rose's cheers filled the hallway as she ran down, arms spread out in excitement as she made sound effects and bounced around with energy he will _never_ understand where it even came from. Gat twisted to see where his sister was - and she was far behind, struggling to walk even with her medical brace conformed to her knee. He slowed down and offered his arm when he noticed sweat line her brow and glimpses of pain in her eyes, frowning as he lowered his voice. "They haven't been treating you, have they?"

"They have," Garnet rasped, stopping to take a break as she shifted her weight on him to take it off her bad leg. "It's just taking it's sweet time healing."

Gat chewed on his lip and averted his gaze to the ground. "I'm sor-"

"Don't. It's not your fault."

That was what Piper said too. What was with all these barmy women protecting such a degraded and selfish shit like him? It _was_ his fault. All of this was happening _because_ of him, and yet they kept insisting that it wasn't. He knew better than to argue with such fierce spirits, though - thanks to the numerous times he had already tried and failed - and he sighed as he looked back up at Rose, smirking when she grew annoyed and insisted for them to hurry up. He couldn't help but be curious as to why he was allowed to be out with them _without_ an escort. "Where are we going, anyways?"

"To school!" Rose announced cheerfully, bouncing up and down. "I can't wait to show you what I'm learning, daddy!"

Gat froze. His gaze snapped to Garnet, who lowered her voice for only him to hear. "You'll be surprised. They've allowed me to sit in on every class too, to keep an eye on her."

"I don't know, Garnet, I still don't think this is a good idea..."

"Where else is she going to receive _quality_ education? And she seems to be enjoying herself - made a few friends too. She isn't lonely and she isn't _anxious _anymore."

No matter what, he wouldn't change his mind. This didn't sit well with him at all; and the fact that the Institute actually allowed Rose into their system _must_ have meant that there was some sort of underhanded move at play here, or something. But... He was still alive. They were still alive - but they were also still held as captives. He wasn't sure what the Institute was waiting for, considering the terms of his now-completed contract.

...The terms of his contract.

He stopped dead in his tracks when they cleared out into another hallway, and he spotted Piper; not the real one, for _it_ wore another replicated red coat without the hole in the breast-pocket. He idly rubbed the heavy medal in his own pocket, and then something clicked into place when his gaze fell back to Rose as she urged him to come to class with her. He grinned, hope alight in his heart, and vowed to himself he _would_ find the real one in the black coat.

After all, it didn't seem like his contract was completed.

Not all of it, anyways.

_"Your family will remain in our custody until we complete copying Ms. Wright and dispose her."_

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

_Thank you to Lunaris Eclipse and neverquitelogistical for taking precious time to review this story! I'm relieved you've been enjoying it, and here's hoping that everyone continues to do so. The set up is - for the most part - just about done, except for where Leo & Piper will go. It's safe to say neither will be a happy camper, but fingers crossed I'll write fast enough for that new trend to be over sooner rather than later lol. _

_Hope to be back next Sunday with a new update! Sorry I've taken so long on it. I've been working more shifts this month, but September is finally almost over. Thanks again for the reviews and the support, cheers and I hope you have a lovely day everyone :)  
_


	11. Mission Essential Task

**_[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE_****_]  
_****_Chapter 11: Mission Essential Task_**

* * *

Piper crossed her arms and legs as she sat as patiently as she could on the chair, trying not to make any overt looks around the hallway and study the occasional passerby. She didn't understand the Institute's intents anymore, nor could she figure out if they had planned to sweep her under the rug or not. She couldn't afford to show any inkling of fear, no matter how much she trembled inside. She had to keep her head on her shoulders and her wits about her. She idly rubbed her bruised wrist and grimaced at it's throbbing, pulling up her black sleeve to rotate her forearm and inspect how the hand print stretched all around.

That was some insane strength coming from such a deceivingly thin synth. What exactly hid under all that flesh and blood? There had to be something else incorporated in the synth body apart from the wires Luki had pulled from that one lady's head.

"Ms. Wright?" The synth who was apparently in charge of escorting her had turned to her, and gestured to the door they waited outside of. "The Director will see you now."

"The Director?" Her brow arched, and she stood shakily. Her nervous habits got the best of her and she curled her hair behind her ears, following the synth who silently led her into the room instead - an expansive one, far different from the ones she had been allowed to see so far. This must have been considered 'luxury' in the Institute.

No one was there to greet her, however, and she walked up to the wall of windows as she looked down at the atrium. She twisted behind her, only to find that the synth had already left her, and her senses were heightened as adrenaline and _danger _surged through her bloodstream. Her hand instinctively shot to her hip - to the gun that was no longer there - and her gaze snapped to the first thing that had revealed itself; footsteps echoed and an elderly man presented himself as he walked down the stairs. She narrowed her eyes and valiantly fought off the attempt to snarl in contempt.

Toxicity poured from her tongue regardless. "You killed Nick, 'Shaun'." It was tempting to unleash a verbal assault, but she still had to be careful with where she stepped, and studied where he did. This was an intelligent and likely manipulative man; he could say whatever he wanted and be cunning enough to mask the tell-tale signs of the average liar. "Don't think you can fool me the way you did with Blue. What do you want with me?"

"A second chance, and that chance to say sorry - as well as tell my story."

"What makes you think I want to hear it?" Piper's fists clenched, and her throat began to close in on itself as her eyes burned. "You killed _Nick!_"

"I did nothing of the sort. I was not solely responsible, but I punished those who were. Do you think I personally oversee every single prerogative of every single division?"

"You can tell me anything you want - and if you don't oversee it, then you make for a poor leader and you're unfit to be one." She bristled when he chuckled and had actually _nodded,_ clasping his wrists behind him as he stepped up to the wall of windows, but kept a safe distance between them at all times. Smart; she may have not had her gun, but she still had her hands and an inordinate amount of objects in here that she could use. She stayed close to a table that had what appeared to be a vase. "This isn't funny," she snapped heatedly, "whether you gave the order or not, my friend died because of _your_ organization. Lots of people on the surface have lost their families because of the Institute. You will **never** convince me that you have benevolent intentions."

"I promise you that we do. We have humanity's best interests at heart. I will admit that our methods may have not always been the most efficient; I believe that has largely been dependent on perspective as well, however." He turned to face her, and it aggravated her that he seemed to take some amusement out of this debate. "Tell me, in the people we have 'kidnapped', have there ever been any investigations as to who they were, and who they have been replaced with?"

Piper bit her lip. "No. How the heck would we know if you're always trying to hide them?"

"Is the truth always better? If you were to tell a battered wife: we have replaced your abusive husband with a man who should have treated you with respect from the start...?"

"Everyone deserves to know the truth, even if it hurts - because lies hurt more. And she should have left that man behind in the first place."

"Ah, but life is not always so clear cut and dry, now is it? There are many more factors involved than just one. But you see, what may be seen as an outrage in _public_ may be a blessing in disguise in _private._ That wife no longer suffers from abuse, and instead is treated with respect, loved by the man she had come to love. Do you not believe you would struggle with Mr. Butler, had he - over time - become a man far more jaded than the one you have come to cherish? Had you two not struggled in the beginning because of perspective?"

"Leave him out of this," Piper seethed, itching and inching closer to the vase. "That's none of your business." How much did they know anyways, and _how_ did they come across that information? It was terrifying just to wonder. "You can justify whatever you want, however you want; that still doesn't give you the right to kidnap people or _kill_ them when their interests don't align with the Institute."

"Bettering humanity," Shaun interjected nonchalantly, and she scoffed.

"Yeah. _Your_ definition of it. Has it ever occurred to you that _maybe_ not everybody shares that definition? Why can't you leave the Commonwealth be? Just what have we ever done to you? If you feel threatened, then that was brought on by _your_ actions, and actions have consequences. If you can't understand that simple truth, then all of you here sure are stupid for smart people."

Shaun's raw laughter filled and echoed, bouncing off the walls of this majestic space. It had only flared her irritation, but it had needled her heart when she noticed subtle _similarities_ between this man and John. She crossed her arms and frowned at him. "Still don't see what's funny about any of this."

"Well, I don't deny nor do I disagree with your statements; it's just been a long time since I've had the pleasure and honor of such an invigorating discourse. I do understand you're a reasonable woman willing to talk and hear things out, a quality not many share." He gestured to another table with chairs set up. "That's why I wish to sit down with you for a one-on-one interview. I want to hear the perspective of the Commonwealth, but I also want to share the Institute's perspective of the Commonwealth; the unfiltered truth, and the blurred lines separating science from ethics. I truly do believe we can bridge the gap and clear up any misunderstandings - and I wish for the chance to prove that the Institute does have humanity's best interests at heart."

Piper nibbled the flesh of her cheek, watching him just as closely as he likely watched her. He was just feeding her what she wanted to hear, to tell the story he wished he could tell. Well, maybe there wouldn't be any harm from listening, so long as she kept her guard up. This was a chance to ask the questions and get the truth she had been seeking all these years. She hesitantly approached the table and took out her notepad from her pocket.

"One moment." The Director took off his lab coat to sling over his claimed spot, heading for the stairs. "I do have a portable terminal that allows you to type in it; it may prove more efficient and easier than writing down-"

"I prefer this, thanks." Piper smirked as she made herself comfortable in the chair, and crossed her legs as she stared at 'Shaun' with the eyes of a hawk. "Consider this your crash course on the Commonwealth perspective. Technology isn't _always_ superior, and it can't replace everything. It's like the difference between reading 'the sky is blue' in a book, and looking up at the sky to see all the blue hues yourself." She left her notepad and pencil on the table. "You should give it a try yourself to see what I'm talking about."

The Director took the seat across from hers and eyed the notepad warily, then shook his head. "I must respectfully decline. I do not have my gloves with me."

...That wasn't an answer she was expecting.

"Gloves?" Piper cocked her head in confusion, but took her things back and cradled it protectively. Her face fell flat when the elderly man shared a most honest truth.

"Well, yes. It's come to my attention that not all of your belongings have been sanitized. I don't know where they've been."

"Um..." Just how the hell did one even _respond_ to that? She blinked in disbelief. "You people are seriously weird. You don't actually sanitize _pencils_ down here, do you?"

A weathered smile pulled at the corner of his wrinkled mouth. "You really don't sanitize pencils up there? They _are _over 200 years old, after all. The amount of bacteria on them is likely weakening your immune system."

Piper rolled her eyes and opened her notepad as she began to brainstorm what kind of questions to ask; but one thing was certain. "I can tell that you're going to be a hoot."

**x - x - x**

"Why the fuck are you assholes making me do this when you _know_ she's going to kill me?" Leo growled, laying on the couch as he slung his forearm across his eyes to shield them from the glaring light. "What was the point of bringing me... _'Back'?_ Is this some fucked up experiment to play with my head?"

"It's not an experiment, of course not! We're not _that_ cruel." Adam's perkiness was getting on Leo's nerves, and he already had very little patience to begin with. He was edging on not caring anymore, and contemplating on attacking the scientist; but there were better ways to get revenge. He had enough patience for that. "We believe in justice." A shadow fell over Leo as the scientist's steps trailed closer. He was within choking distance. "But we believe in redemption as well. This is a fitting punishment, don't you think?"

"She's going to fucking _kill_ me," Leo reminded, taking his arm off to glare at the scientist. His skin crawled when there was a penlight out, inspecting the scars on his forearm, and Adam straightened with that damned snake-like smile of his. "Do you know what that means or are you all so fucking far gone in your la la land that you don't know what killing is?"

"I can't speak for my colleagues, but _I _know what it is. I brought you back from the dead, remember? Well, you probably don't since you were... You know. _Dead._" He nearly touched his index and thumb together, showing only the slightest sliver of space in between. "You could be just a _weeeee_ bit more grateful to the man who accomplished a rather _marvelous_ feat, if I do say so myself. God would have been content to let you burn in hell; we don't care and we're not afraid."

"More like: plain stupid." Leo muttered, itching to exact _justice_ over Adam's screechy nails-on-chalkboard laughter. "I'm positive your sole purpose in life is to piss off as many people in as many ways as humanly possible. No other fuckin' words for you."

"Your sole purpose won't change no matter how many tantrums you throw or what you say to me," Adam shrugged. He disappeared behind the couch and Leo sat up to watch Adam go to what looked like a little bar, helping himself to a dispenser that shot out some sort of vile green liquid. It sent shudders up and down Leo's spine, and he huffed as he slammed back down on the couch. Not only was he condemned to die _again _\- a second chance, redemption for Piper to do it herself - but he was forced to bunker down with this asshole. Leo was sure he was going to be tempted to take that second chance away and just off himself to speed up the process.

Revenge. Patience. Leo would play along for now, and run a tally for just however many people he found out to be involved in the _monstrosity_ they made out of him. This was no life. This was slavery, and he would rather die. He was a hostage, same as the ones he sold off - and he'd seen the end of that story one too many times.

"You've gone quiet," Adam remarked, and there was something sincerely wrong with how cheerful his next statement was; as if he was _flattered._ "Are you planning my murder?"

"No." Not yet. "But I am planning on taping your mouth shut."

Adam may as well have danced his way back into Leo's view, holding two cups. He held one out and the sight of the green liquid made Leo gag - even more so when the scientist chuckled and chucked both cups back in the noisiest of gulps. "Fucking hell," Leo rolled on the couch and slapped a hand over his ear to block out the noises. "Nevermind just pissing off people - but you gotta gross 'em out too."

"I wouldn't classify you as _people_ though," Adam reminded with that same signature perkiness that seriously needed to die. His steps echoed farther away and Leo twisted onto his back, grimacing when he glanced over and saw a trickling trail of the green liquid down the side of a cup. "If it'll end your temper tantrum, I can design a voice modulator and a mask for you. She won't know it's you so long as you don't take off the mask or tell her who you are."

That piqued Leo's spirits. Maybe he did have a fighting chance at living after all. He elbowed the arm rest to prop himself, watching the scientist create some other revolting concoction. "You can do that? An actual mask though."

"Are there any other kinds of masks?" Adam lilted over his shoulder, pouring yellow liquid in a bowl. Leo immediately made a mental note to distract the scientist and replace it with piss.

"Well, I dunno. You've done a fucked up job markin' me up. I can see you stitching somebody's face on top of mine."

At that, even _Adam_ shuddered and he turned around, nose dimpling with a repulsed look. Leo laughed.

Good. _Good! _Revenge was sweet.

"I. Would. **N****ever.**" The vehement heat in the scientist's voice was... Surprising, actually. Adam slapped a hand over his chest, an offended indignation coating every word. "I sculpt nothing but masterpieces and have honed my craft to the point I've surpassed perfection itself. I could _make _a new face from nothing with my own two hands, if I wanted to. Those buffoons in the robotics division gloat, thinking they're so high and mighty with their creations, but all they did was design the machines that assemble their synths. There's no finesse in that. No skill. No _responsibility_ or pride behind their projects, but all the fingers to point at someone else if something goes wrong. Case and point, with the Director firing and exiling several scientists in their recent shame of mishandling an old prototype." Adam scoffed and shook his head. "Amateurs."

"That shit is everywhere, though." Leo shrugged. "People will always be quick to blame others, but never look at themselves. It's just how life works."

It's just how he worked.

"Nor will they ever practice to the point there will never be a need to point at someone else - not for mistakes, anyways." Adam held out his palms, his chest puffing with an air of superiority. There was a sickening and almost terrifying glint in his eyes, and Leo's innards twisted uncomfortably at the sight of the _rabid dog. _It was almost mind-boggling how ambition could trick one to believe that they were a mark rather than a stain. "I've forged my own fate with these hands, and I will surpass God; I dare say I already have, because I've spent the majority of my life fixing His _mistakes,_ correcting every flaw."

...This wasn't just a madman who has lost his reason, but a madman who has lost everything _but_ his reason.

Leo frowned. "Ain't that what bein' human is all about? There ain't no such thing as the perfect human being."

Laughter roared from the tiny man, and then stopped suddenly. Adam grinned manically. He pressed some sort of button on his wristwatch and in a second, two coursers flooded the room. They pinned Leo down before he could even think of fighting or escaping, and his heart soared to beat in his ears when Adam approached with his penlight and a _screwdriver._ A gloved hand slammed over Leo's mouth and muffled his screams when the screwdriver slowly drilled into the side of his head. This was a nightmare.

"It appears that I need to adjust your eyes - because you can't see what's in front of you."

And Adam was the nightmare that would never disappear upon waking.

**x - x - x**

Luki lumbered into the bedroom with his head bowed. His gaze snapped to the spots on the floor that should have been stained, but wasn't. "That was fast," he muttered, earning a new level of disrespect - just like the Institute and it's blatant disregard for life.

He was in no position to judge after his blatant disregard for Sarah.

"I was wondering when you'd come back from ass-kissing," Sarah murmured, devoid of any warmth in her tone. Luki braced himself for the coming argument and mustered as much courage as he could to look up, unhinged by the composed woman who sat ever so professionally on the bed with crossed legs and folded hands. How long had she been waiting like that?

"Sarah, you know that I had to."

"And you know that I had to, too. Now that you've given in, they know that that's all it will take to sway you into changing your mind. More innocents will die the next time they ask you to do something you don't want to." Sarah rose from the bed, all calm and collected as she walked to him. It wasn't the ticking bomb that he was afraid of, because there was no bomb. She never exploded - and that was _worse. _"What if they ask you to kill me, and have a hundred hostages to make sure you'll break in time. What will you do then, Paladin?"

Rank. They were back to rank, even when they weren't even considered to be part of the Brotherhood anymore; they may as well have been their own brand of Outcasts.

"If you believe they'll stop at just infiltration, then you've learned nothing from me. You'll be the mole and catalyst of the Brotherhood of Steel's destruction. The Institute is well aware that our Brothers are a threat, or they'd have tasked us with infiltrating the Railroad instead, or some other organization that-"

"I didn't know what else to do!" Luki broke, bowing his head again as her words sank in. It hurt to hear - not just the truth and rationale, but in that goddamn cold voice. "They killed _Piper,_ Sarah. They-"

"No they didn't. And you will address me as Sentinel."

"Elder, if we really are going to be doing this bullshit," he muttered without thinking, and grimaced as soon as she breathed sharply. He barely managed to lift his eyes, but his head was stiff and frozen on the swivel. "What do you mean they didn't kill Piper?"

"Not the one _you_ know." Sarah's ice-blue eyes were just as disconcerting as they were beautiful, but they were closed off. He couldn't get a single read on her. "I inspected her wound and found wires. You should have _known_ better than that, after they brought in 'Leo'. We both saw and know that he's dead, and you fell for it anyways. High chances are that last woman they brought in was a synth as well - they used all their tools at their disposal to manipulate us, to pit us against each other. And you did."

"Against..." He trailed off, choked off by a lump growing in his throat. The weight of it all was sinking in. Luki instinctively reached for her, but she stepped away from him and strode back to the bed, sitting in the same professional fashion again. She was so close, and so far away; it may have well been the motto of their relationship.

"I thought..." He started, but he was at a loss for words. His mouth opened and closed, jaw slackened, the fight draining from his body. Guilt nestled in and his stomach suddenly flipped on itself, bile churning. "I'm _sorry,_" he whispered pitifully. "I-I thought..."

"I know. What you did isn't my issue, Paladin."

"Stop with the Paladin," he begged under his breath, too quiet to hear.

"I don't need all the years we've had together to read your mind, because you've always been an open book. You don't have to explain yourself; I know why you did what you did, and I respect that, and I support that you go with your gut. It's always the same reason anytime you do anything - and it's always the same _consequence__._" Sarah fell silent after that, and he scrapped together what little bravery he had left to look up at her, only to be struck with the killing blow the moment he did.

"I'm upset because I have to explain _myself._ I'm upset because - for all these years and your talks about relationships and futures and trust - you don't trust _me. _You don't try to find out why I do what I do, you just stand against me. You don't support _me. _You said you're not the enemy, but neither am I, and yet I felt like I was. I still do."

"_You're not,_" he croaked pathetically, desperately wishing to close the distance. He couldn't last a minute longer under this siege. She was upset, and she had every right to be, but he just wanted this to be over so that he could apologize and try to make it up to her and-

"But that's just the thing. I've _always_ felt like the enemy. If I wasn't on the same page as you, I felt like something was wrong with me. Forget page; I think it's safe to say we're both in two entirely different books." Sarah disconnected from his gaze, and when she had looked down at her own hands, fingers _fidgeting,_ he froze. She had never appeared to struggle. She was _always_ confident and tough-as-nails. She _always_ held her head high, even when she confessed she wasn't even remotely close to feeling that way.

And now, for the first time, he had gotten more reads than he had ever wanted.

"Sar-" he stopped when her eyes cut up and into him, and the icy blues took on new hues as they glossed with a light sheen, twisting a knife into him. "_Sentinel,_" he forced out. "Please don't do this." He approached hesitantly, and her shoulders squared away, stiffer than ever before. "I've made a mistake, but just... Don't let it be my last one. _Please. _I don't care if we're two different books. I don't care if we're not on the same page. I just need to be in the same room as you."

"It's already too late." Her voice cracked, and there was the slightest warble. He **needed** a gun to shoot himself in the foot. "You're the enemy of the Brotherhood, and any enemy of the Brotherhood is an enemy of _mine._"

"Sarah, I can-"

"You can't. The Institute played you and caught you in a trap. It's checkmate, Luki."

...How ironic. Now he actually preferred his rank.

Silence reigned down and Sarah slid backwards on the bed, disappearing underneath the sheets. She'd have ordered him to leave if she wanted to... Right? Whether she would have or not, he wouldn't leave until he tried to reach out to her one last time. He toed off his shoes and approached the bed, lifting and sliding under the sheets. He grabbed her wrist before she escaped out the other side, and in one swift move, she rolled _on_ him instead of away. He felt something bump against his nose, and he grunted as he tried to wiggle out without throwing her off. He froze when teeth bit down on his ear lobe, and two audible clicks flicked light on to life.

His pip-boy.

"If you don't leave, I will." Sarah demanded, withdrawing as she forcibly angled his wrist until the computer's light showed what was on his nose. A... Notepad? He looked up at her, and a thrill surged through him at the sultry smirk all over her face. She shrugged and nonchalantly slid off of him. "Fine, you stubborn jackass. I will."

But before she did, she stole a kiss, passing on the words in the motion of her lips.

_"I love you."_

And she disappeared.

Luki scrambled for the notepad, hiding it as he threw down the sheets. "Sarah!" He called out, pretending to be heartbroken as he bit the inside of his cheek as harshly as possible to stop the giddy grin that wanted to take over. As soon as the doors hissed shut, he threw a 'fit' and hid under the sheets, going over the notepad. It bore a remarkable resemblance to the one he saw once - in a hotel from... Piper...

Sarah must have lifted this from the synth's pocket then. Luki shook the images out of his mind and hastily flipped to the first page as he shone the pip-boy's light on it. His cheeks ached from how wide he grinned at the comforting sight of Sarah's bloody monotone and boring report. He never thought he'd actually miss these things. He made sure he wouldn't have to ever again.

**x - x - x**

_The Lyons' Pride_  
_Brotherhood of Steel_

**Mission Essential Task:**  
Direct Response to the Brotherhood of Steel Threat.

**Conditions:**  
Threats have been identified in/to the BoS. Reports indicate the Threat might be larger than that which internal BoS forces can defeat. Paladin Luki will be infiltrating the BoS' base of operations in the Commonwealth, posing as a double agent of the Institute and the BoS. The company commander has developed a plan to support the operation. Subordinate units/elements are providing current situation reports.

**Standards:**  
**a.** The Threat is repelled and/or delayed until The Lyons' Pride is relieved by the BoS' tactical combat forces.  
**b.** The BoS is defended with no unanticipated degradation of logistics support of the brigade.  
**c.** The Threat is eradicated with a minimum of civilian casualties involved.

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

_Thank you again Luna! If you don't mind, could you say which specific parts were confusing? I can go back to the chapter and edit/clarify it so it comes across better; it's not at all that you're dumb, it's likely that there's something I just haven't translated properly in the writing since I have all the goodies and secrets in my brain. Thanks again for taking time to reach out to me! I hope to see you all in the next chapter, have a lovely day and cheers :)_


	12. Am I Real?

**_[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE_****_]  
Chapter 12: Am I Real?  
_**

* * *

"This is where you'll stay," the courser announced as he entered a spacious room, gesturing down one hallway. "To the right you have your bedroom and all necessary amenities in the bathroom." He waved his arm in the opposite direction. "To the left you have the kitchen and access to the balcony, with a place to eat out there, enjoy the view, or indulge in the reading material provided for you." He turned around to face Piper and gave a slight bow as he crossed his arm across his torso, as if he was some sort of butler. "I will be stationed outside your door at all times until I am relieved by your new guard. Let me know if there is anything you require, or if you would like to be escorted somewhere."

Piper took a deep breath, and strained a smile at the end of it. "Alright, I will. Thank you." She was left to her own devices when the synth excused himself and left the... "Apartment, I guess." She wandered around and took note of what was allotted to her, feeling a small pang of jealousy over the abundance of even the simplest luxuries.

"A girl could get real comfortable here. _Too_ comfortable..." She took off her black coat and slung it over the living room couch, then searched the pockets for her notepad as she reviewed what she wrote down during the interview with the Director. She didn't buy everything he tried to sell her, nor did she appreciate the lack of compassion - and apology and _just plain responsibility_ \- over Nick's death. Her teeth worried her lip, and she tried to stave back the tears as grief finally found a moment and privacy to seek release.

Desperate for a distraction, Piper went down the left to the kitchen, looking for the fridge. Or _a_ fridge. She arched her brow and stepped up to what looked like a dispenser of sorts, and ran her finger down the rows of buttons as she read what they were. "G36, H20, J72? What the heck do these even mean?"

Out of curiosity, she pressed a random button and heard something land in the chute. She knelt down and warily pushed the lid back, grabbing what looked like a bar, and frowned. "_This_ is my dinner? The Institute seriously needs to get out more." She looked up in thought at that, then hummed to herself and chuckled as she opened the wrapper of the bar. "On second thought, maybe not a good idea." She snacked on the bar as she continued her little tour and went out to the balcony; she was surprised to see her red coat and hat folded on one of the chairs.

"They recovered this...?"

That was surprisingly _possibly_ a _touch_ bit sweet of them. She glanced around until she stuffed and held her 'dinner' in her mouth, freeing her hands to inspect her coat. Every single stitch was combed over, and when she had gotten to her breast pocket, her heart sank; there was no evidence of fresh threads tying a certain hole closed. She wouldn't ever forget that day even if her life depended on it - which it _did_ that time, when it also depended how a war medal rested inside her pocket.

This coat was just a doppelganger.

Maybe they had her real belongings stored somewhere? They had to be - alongside Garrett's. Hopefully. There was absolutely no way that stubborn man would let the Institute off so easily about his guns, and getting them grimy with their breaths. The memory of her prank tugged the corner of her mouth - and 'nutritious' bar - in a smirk.

_"Oi, this isn't funny! I fuckin' called it, and y'treated me like a weirdo! They got my baby filthy..."_

Piper idly folded the fake coat to set it back on the chair, heading to the railing as thoughts drifted with simulated clouds. She desperately needed to see Garrett, but she also just as desperately needed to play her cards right, to pretend she was upset he had betrayed her and sold her out; otherwise, if she overplayed her hand and showed how much she cared about him, then the Institute would use him as leverage for whatever they now intended to do with her.

Suffice to say, there was no doubt in her mind that 'Shaun' would want her to work his interview into an article and circulate it around the Commonwealth. She would, yeah - type the article they'd want to see on the terminal they'd inevitably try to push on her again; then she'd _write_ the article they wouldn't want to see down on her notepad. She had to write the lies in a way to appease the Institute but retain skepticism among readers, and that was not going to be an easy task.

Piper already had a headache just thinking about it. She'd be caught if she tried that route. Maybe she could try and time the release of the articles? Or just write a raving review without a speck of flaw, praising the Institute to paint a picture that was obviously too good to be true. But how would she get what she'd written out into circulation, anyways? She needed a way out of here. She needed someone she could trust to get it out there. John? He might be her ticket out - at least, her _article's_ ticket out, and he could safely spread it around his settlements. It was less risky for being infiltrated with spies... Hopefully.

Better than Diamond City.

Gears turned as ideas and plans and backup plans began to formulate in her brain, and she pretended to busy herself with the stack of comic books in case if she was somehow being watched. She didn't see any ravens or birds inside here; but if the Institute _could_ make cameras out of ravens, there was no telling what else they've accomplished. A craving laced her tongue as the stress mounted, and she demolished her dinner to race to dessert, scrounging her pockets for a cigarette and the gold-plated flip lighter. She lit her smoke and chugged it for dear life, lovingly running her thumb across the word engraved in the lid.

_"Newsflash,"_ she mouthed silently, smirking.

Moments later, she heard footsteps and jumped in her skin when the courser suddenly appeared out on the balcony. He took her jacket and hat as if he expected those items to be there, and smiled innocently at her. "My apologies, Ms. Wright. This is an embarrassment; I have remembered that these clothes have not been properly washed and prepared for you. I will take these at once. Also, please be advised that we carry a strict no-smoking policy in this facility; however, the Director has approved that you may use the vents in the bathroom in order to smoke. Is that satisfactory?"

"O-oh... That's fine."

Hell no, none of this was 'satisfactory'. She wasn't the least bit remorseful of the ashes that collected at her feet as she stubbed the cigarette; they were taking away one of her few precious stress relievers, but that wasn't anywhere near a priority right now. Not only did the courser's conveniently timed intrusion confirm that she was being watched, but that there may have been something hiding in that coat. She forced a smile and hadn't relaxed even after the courser left, though played it all nonchalant with the comic books as she vengefully spread the ashes with the heel of her boot.

Her mind raced with questions, namely: why was her jacket and hat out here, anyways? Wouldn't they be in the living room, or the bedroom? She reached for the next comic book and noticed something small was wedged in the stack. She slid the remaining books in her lap and pretended to leaf through the bottoms until she took the two the object was hidden between, tilting the books until it slipped into her lap. A... Notepad?

Dread gnarled around Piper's gut. She opened her legs to allow the notepad to fall, hoping any potential hawks would just figure she had dropped her own rather than picking up a second. She didn't like the suggestion behind it; if it was to be a gift to her from the Institute, it wouldn't be hidden. She set the comic books aside and got up to lean against the railing, taking out her pencil as she reviewed 'her' notepad.

Sketches adorned the first two pages of the view she saw right now, a style of feather-light strokes she immediately recognized. Her heart stopped on the next page; a clue.

_Mr. Always Right knows Wright from Wrong._

Piper struggled to quell the quivering in her hands. Her nightmare had come to life, and the proof - her _own handwriting _\- was right in her palm. The worst part?

She was left alone at the mercy of one of her greatest fears.

_But who will know who is Always Right?_

**x - x - x**

Gat wasn't sure what to think as he sat in the corner of the classroom, and did his best not to cringe through the honking and squeaking and _grinding_ of objects that were apparently called 'instruments'. From what he read, instruments were responsible for the music that played on the radio. This chaos was killing his ears, but he still managed to beam a grin every time Rose looked at him, all excited with this massive instrument that was twice her size.

"This is her favorite class," Garnet stated with a notable sense of pride in her voice that Gat had rarely heard. He leaned to the side and bumped shoulders with his sister.

"What's that she's playin', anyways?"

"A che-low, I think. I'll ask the teacher after class."

"You think we're allowed to pick one up and play with her?"

Garnet arched her brow at him. An amused smile danced on her lips as she subtly jerked her head towards the organized _chaos_ unfolding beside him. "You want to join that?"

"As good a time as any to learn. They'll be like camouflage for my own shite screeching." He grinned devilishly when she laughed, and it was a sound that settled his fraying nerves - another he rarely heard. He noticed Rose's head snap to them, looking so _happy_ to hear mirth from her mum. He shot her a thumbs up and she did the same with the... Che-low stick in hand, or whatever it was called. It motivated him to bounce up to the front of the classroom, not unaware of the way of how uncomfortable the teacher looked upon him approaching her - but she still strained a polite smile.

"How may I help you, Mr. Butler? Is there something you're concerned with, with Rose?"

"Nah, it's all good innit? Was just wonderin' if y'happen to have one of those thingamajigs that she's playin', or if y'have somethin' else hanging around. Wanted to learn with her."

At that, the tension in the teacher's shoulders dispersed and the strain melted from her smile. "A cello! Yes, of course, I believe that's a wonderful idea!"

Whoa, there, tone down the cheeriness just a wee bit. Gat squirmed uncomfortably and felt heat throb at the base of his throat. "Uh, so like... Where can I grab one?" He shuffled after her when she lead the way to another smaller room where rows of instruments were protectively secured in _glass_ _cases. _He whistled, reaching out to the one that looked similar to the one Rose was... Making noise with. The teacher's hand suddenly came into view and she hesitantly put her body in between him and the case.

"Erm, my apologies, Mr. Butler, but allow me." She smiled apologetically as she turned away, stealing numerous looks over her shoulder. He sighed and stepped a few paces back, frowning when she was visibly far more at ease with the distance between them.

"Y'ain't gotta pretend with me, teach, but I can promise ya that y'ain't gotta worry with me either. I won't do nothin' to nobody so long as the Institute won't gimme _reason_ to."

"And what reason would that be?"

"Simple. Don't hurt my family. I don't care what happens to me, but if someone lays a hand on my kid-"

"Even if she's not yours?"

That shut Gat up; how in the world did the Institute have access to all this information about him - about Rose? They would have had to follow his family since mum's death, or maybe they've been poking _needles_ in Rose; or maybe Garnet has willingly - better not have been _unwillingly _\- relinquished what their past was like? His jaw clenched painfully tight, but he still managed through forced teeth. "She don't have to be _mine_ to be _my kid._" He waved towards the glass case. "C'mon. Gimme it already. I wanna go out there and play with-" he narrowed his eyes as he growled. "**My kid. **Y'catchin' my drift now, teach?"

"Mrs. Bouchard," she interjected quietly, but nodded and deftly removed the che-low from it's case. She turned and stared at him, then his hands, then at a dispenser.

"Jesus, I've been here this _whole_ time." Gat groaned as he went over to the dispenser, pumping the liquid as he spread it throughout his hands and between fingers. He strode back and held them out. "Squeaky clean. Better?"

"Much, thank you." Bouchard smiled and handily gifted the che-low. She reached towards him when he turned, staring at his elbow. His face fell flat. He set the che-low down and went back to the dispenser as a joke, slathering the sanitizer all over his elbow before he went and held it out to her with a playful smirk. She rolled her eyes but hadn't grabbed his elbow, and something twisted inside of him. It just wasn't the _same,_ jerking peoples' chains.

She wasn't _Piper._

"I just wanted to apologize if I had offended you, Mr. Butler. I didn't mean to; I was just intrigued by your paternal instinct with..." Her smile grew a little wider. "Your child."

That brought a sincere smile to his face. "There we go, yer gettin' the hang of it now." He had a spring in his steps as he left for the adjoining classroom, but stopped short of the door. He carefully set the che-low on his foot and raked a hand through his hair, steeling himself for a confession he wasn't sure why he was sharing. But when he looked at the teacher, there seemed to be a genuine interest rather than a twisted scientific need to _dissect_ him.

"Uh, well Rose... She uh... Well you already know who her real pa is. You prolly already know what happened to him too." Gat sucked in a slow breath when the teacher clasped her hands in front of her as she nodded, and she surprisingly had an empathetic expression that _plucked_ at a heart string. "She just deserves better, y'know? A chance to grow up as a _normal_ kid. My sis and I, we were so scared of our pa that... We were gonna bury Rose so that she wouldn't hafta suffer the way we did. But that day, I thought, why kill somethin' that could be good? Why the hell can't we bury the bad - the fear?"

"So you decided to kill your father, and you saved her."

"Saved her? Nah, not at all." Gat blinked quickly to stave off the tears when his eyes burned with an emotion he was wholly confused about, and he hastily turned away to hide as he picked up the che-low, drumming his fingers along the door frame as he peeked in the classroom and watched Rose. Her eyes met his right away and she waved excitedly for him to come, when she noticed what he was holding. Her energy was infectious even across the room, and it translated into his grin as he looked behind him at Mrs. Bouchard.

"She saved _me._"

"Mr. Butler." The voice came from out of nowhere and he nearly dropped the che-low, his head zooming on a swivel to meet the emotionless eyes of a courser. Gat's face fell flat, not at the courser's usual dead voice, but the usual treatment that was largely reminiscent of a dog and it's master. "Your presence has been requested, sir. I am here to escort you."

"Again? Who is it now?" Gat groaned, rolling his eyes when Bouchard squeezed herself in to take the instrument away from him. He caught Garnet's worried gaze and waved it off, steeling himself for the _cheese_ when he looked at Rose - who seemed utterly heartbroken that they wouldn't get to play. He kissed his palm and 'blew' the kiss to her with a wink, to which she mocked grabbing and pressed his kiss over her chest. It lifted his spirits, only for it to be destroyed by the courser.

"Ms. Wright, sir. Please follow me."

...Everything was going to fall apart right before his eyes _again._

**x - x - x**

Piper hid her black coat in the bedroom. She patted her backpockets to make sure she still had both her notepads - well her notepad and 'her' notepad, or were they both about to be 'her'? - and paced in the living room, trying to collect her thoughts and composure. There wasn't a part of her that wasn't shaking inside, and she swore her legs were going to give out on her at any second. But no matter how scary, she had to do this - had to find the truth.

Questions buzzed in her brain as she made a mental checklist of who to interrogate in this place. She needed to inject herself deeper, to gain the Director's trust so that she could talk to whomever was in his inner circle. She wasn't sure what she would find then, but maybe whatever information she unearthed would either be able to be used against the Institute, or be forced to _change_ it.

Change couldn't come from someone who was a synth, though. If she was the Director's pawn, then she needed to know just how much leverage she was working with - and then find out where the real Piper was.

The _real _Piper...

Anxiety jolted through her at the thought, and she pinched herself as hard as she could, for what little good it would do. She wouldn't be able to tell. Hopefully Garrett did.

Hopefully she was the one who would be able to tell if he was the _real_ Garrett too.

Beeps alerted her and froze her in her tracks when the door opened too quickly for her to even compose herself and get her bearings. She stood staring as if the grey orbs that snapped to hers were holding her at gunpoint. She certainly felt like she was a hostage right now. The courser lingered behind until Garrett glared behind him, muttering something she couldn't hear; and then the synth let them be as he left.

Silence hung over them, choking the air right out of her lungs. She was burning up, and her eyes burned, and her tongue burned with so many words left unsaid. She didn't know where to start - where to finish. Emotion balled up in her throat and she was frustrated when he just _stood_ there, never unflinching, not a speck of feeling betrayed in his gaze.

"_Do__ something,_" she croaked miserably._  
_

Garrett sucked in a sharp breath. "What do you want me to do?"

"_Anything._" Her hands tightened into white-knuckled fists, nails digging and stinging in her palm. She couldn't hold on anymore. She was falling apart - for his inaction screamed _everything._ Her head fell and she squeezed her eyes as tightly as possible, but the tears still leaked through with her plea. "Tell me I'm real."

Footsteps echoed in her brain, each heavier than the last as he neared. Hope flared when his arms wrapped around her, however reluctantly. And then she realized why. He made no move to do anything else - to say anything else. He never kissed her, whether her lips or her hair. He began to tremble, and then the dam broke when he sucked in another sharp - _sharper_ \- breath. Her fingers twisted in his shirt as she clung tightly to his chest, her own chest tightening to the point she was _wheezing_ just to _breathe, _struggling as if she was trying to suck it all through a straw when he murmured ever so quietly.

"_I wish I could._"

No. This wasn't real. It couldn't be - she was breathing and thinking and feeling exactly as she always had. She felt nothing but love for the man holding her, and in his arms, she felt a flurry of emotions as he always made her feel. She still felt _safe_ with him, despite what he was saying. None of this made sense. He didn't make sense.

"How do you know, Garrett? How the heck can you tell just by _looking_ at me, when nobody could ever figure out synths before? It's taken me years with McDonough and... And how do you _know?_" Piper demanded weakly, but buried her face. She sought the truth, and she got it, but she was terrified of looking at it in the eyes.

Strength was sucked from her knees when warm breaths seeped into her scalp, but it wasn't comforting - because soon enough she felt cold tears. He was shaking immensely, and he held on ever tighter. "I'm sorry," he whispered, voice cracking pathetically. "I'm so sorry."

"Just _answer_ me! How do you know?!"

"Your eyes," he managed, but then a series of beeps ripped them apart and the door opened. Two coursers rushed to Garrett, and adrenaline spiked too late when one's arm was in the air, needle in hand. It sank into Garrett's neck and he was unconscious in seconds, dragged out by the coursers before she even had the chance to _think_ about snapping out of shock and acting to protect him.

"Wait!" Piper rushed after them, but then the door slid shut on her face. She pressed the button to open it, but it flashed red and a robotic voice chimed from the ceiling.

_"Access denied."_

Doors slid shut behind her, cutting off access to both the balcony and the bedroom. This was just liked when she was kidnapped by the Gunners, only that this cell had more amenities than Garrett had first given her. All this time, and she was still a hostage. But this time, she wasn't just a hostage in this building, but in this body, and in these memories. The fear came and the fear passed faster than she thought it would - was she still in shock? Regardless, even if she didn't know if she was the real Piper Wright, or if that was the real Garrett Butler... There was one thing she did know.

_They_ were real.

**x - x - x**

Blaring alarms made him roll right off whatever he was laying on. Leo crashed on the ground with a grunt, staring at the ceiling in a daze. He groaned as he twisted and grabbed on to the bed to help sit up, only to find _one_ arm listening. Horror gripped him when he looked at his other arm - corded sinews of _metal_ bars simulated a bicep, metal that ran all the way from his shoulder to his fingertips. He opened his mouth to scream.

Nothing came out.

Leo fell back on his haunches when the alarms shut off, and somebody jumped on his bed. _Adam._ The cheeky scientist clapped gleefully, a grin on his face. "Good morning, L-3-0! I see you've made the wonderful discovery of your new augmentations." He sat up on the bed and swung his legs over the edge towards Leo, laughing and jumping off the side when Leo tried to make a swipe for an ankle to _break_ it. "I've yet to program the voice modulator for you, but I believe you'll be satisfied with the results. Ms. Wright will never suspect you now!"

Leo fought and fought to get something out of his throat, but not even air came out. And the nightmare set in. He pushed and rocked about until he grabbed on to the bed to help himself up, pleading and screaming inside his brain to _wake the fuck_ _up _as he numbly walked over to the mirror. He glared at Adam when the scientist had the gall to walk beside him, poking and tapping the cybernetic arm.

"Come on, move it. You should be able to. I made sure to establish a connection and that your nervous system was communicating during surgery. It _was _sending signals to your arm." Adam poked it again, and he laughed when Leo prayed with all his will to flip the middle finger - and the arm promptly _listened. _He tried to take a swipe at the scientist, but the movement was severely delayed and Adam stepped out of the way, his snake-like smile slithering to life. "Now now, play nice. I'm the only one who can finish your upgrades and tune you up, you know; which I will, after I present you to the Director - without your voice of course. I refuse to allow vulgarity ruin the future of my division. As soon as it's revived, you'll be free of me and you'll get to begin your new assignment!" Adam clapped and sniggered giddily. "Exciting, isn't it?"

Leo ignored the chatty scientist as much as he could as he clawed his way to the mirror, and his cybernetic arm reacted without thought. The glass shattered and pieces flew, a couple cutting his cheek - not like it made a difference with how marked up he was. His vanity was one of his few precious treasures, and now he didn't have that. He didn't have pride. He didn't have his humanity left - but suppose that was the price he paid when he decided to dance with the devil and sell his soul for what he was going to do before he died.

Tears couldn't even come. He couldn't cry, he couldn't talk, and he could barely move. He was trapped in a body that was no longer his, turned into what may as well have constituted 'glorified robot'. He was just as fake as those fucking synths. This was Piper's fault though, still, wasn't it? If he never followed her, if he never listened to Luki, he wouldn't be here. He should have never agreed to the Sarge's fucking deal. He should have just stayed as a Gunner.

This was _their fault._ They ruined his life. The Institute ruined his life - and this fucking skinny asshole was having the time of his life doing it, too.

One after another thought, anger brewed and broiled. He was left staring at the shattered remains of his life, of what he once was. Blue eyes glowed, and his skin crawled when Adam came up behind him, cocky fingers running up Leo's shoulder as if he was a fucking child. But when he willed it, something stopped him from striking out at the scientist; even with his own flesh-and-meat arm.

"You're perfect. _Magnificent,_" Adam whispered, the back of his hand lovingly - _disgustingly _\- stroking Leo's scarred cheek. "A real masterpiece; I've outdone myself, this time. As soon as you learn to control your new augmentations, you'll be unstoppable. Everyone will tremble upon your approach and you will be the pinnacle of human evolution, to inspire what mankind can aspire to be and achieve." He gently nudged Leo away from the broken mirror and stood in front of him, his repulsive gaze glossing over with pride.

All Leo wanted to do was scream.

And he **prayed** for someone to kill him again.

**x - x - x**

Gat was muscled along by two coursers - not that he put up a fight. He was dumped in a chair and one of them mentioned something about getting him cleared, but for what, he didn't know. He hunched over and buried his head in his hands, struggling to just _hold on_ and not break down. He couldn't afford to. The real Piper was somewhere in this building, but he'd been slacking off.

How the hell was he even supposed to find her?

"Garrett? What are you doing here?"

His gaze snapped up to the voice, and he blinked, confused to see _Cowboy._ His eyes were dead. The red flags soared straight up, but Gat bit his tongue before he went off shouting 'synth'. When was he going to see that searing wildfire burning and roaring - the one Piper always had? Now every familiar face he came across had that cold sickly flame, like when he first saw with the backstabbing bitch from the market.

"...Garrett?"

Gat's head lolled back in his hands and he sighed irritably. "Piper's the only one allowed to call me that. Stick to Gat." A beat. He forced _manners_ through his teeth. "_...Please._"

"Alright." John knelt, and Gat did everything he could to avoid those damn dead eyes. "So what are you doing here?"

"Who the fuck knows what these eggheads ever want?" Gat muttered, fingers digging into his scalp. He squeezed his head in an effort to somehow circumvent the coming pressure that built behind his eyes. "They're fucking with my brain, and they're doing a good job of it. Seen two Pipers now. Only a matter of time 'fore the second one _paints_ the floor."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"...Forget it." Gat sighed again, his eyes slipping shut as tightly as possible when they began to burn the moment his voice cracked and faded out of existence. "I want to be alone."

"Gat, I need to know-"

"_Please,_" he whispered pitifully, and his next words echoed a memory that hit far too close to home. "Manners, and shite..."

Silence fell between them, but he didn't care. He couldn't, but he appreciated it when John eventually excused himself and left Gat alone, hanging by a thread. All he could see behind his eyes was _Piper,_ and all he could smell was her hair, and her musk, and how close he was saying that she still really needed that bath. All he could taste was her hair against his mouth, and all he could feel was her warm body in his arms. It all felt so bloody real, and it was agonizing to _know_ none of it was.

Disgust welled up in him when there was that faint itch upon his lips that he couldn't get rid of. He nearly fell into temptation, nearly cheated on the _real_ Piper for the desperate need to just settle for whatever came his way, regardless of whether or not it was real. He missed her so, _so_ much. All he wanted was her to comfort him again - even when it should have clearly been the other way around, like it always has been; and he knew his desperation was playing tricks on him, like seeing a mirage at a desert.

...Or was what he saw in Piper's eyes _real?_


	13. The Lyoness' Pride

**_[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE_****_]  
Chapter 13: The Lyoness' Pride  
_**

* * *

Hairs fell in the sink as Luki shaved away the last of his beard, running a hand along his smooth jaw before he studied the razor. When was the last time he'd gotten to use one? He'd grown accustomed to his combat knife, but he never got as close to his skin as now - not unless he wanted to make confetti out of his cheeks.

Thoughts meandered as he reflected on this past week, musing on what vague objectives he'd been given by Sarah thus far. They needed to convene before he began his 'infiltration' and inject himself into the Brotherhood of Steel; what kind of information should he try to feed them, and what kind of information would satisfy the Institute enough to believe he was on their side? They had to have heard his conversation with Sarah when she outright stated their manipulation tactics to trick him into this mission, so they were going to try and sink their teeth in her next.

None of that worried him as much as what he was supposed to do in order to inject himself into the Brotherhood without immediately rousing suspicion, and perhaps even being killed as a precaution to protect the Brotherhood from the risk of such spies. Was he supposed to go with the identity he had _before_ they escaped the Capital Wasteland, or was he supposed to make up an entirely new one? If he were to head in as himself, they'd probably suspect him to just be a synth.

Lying wouldn't get him very far either, though.

What if they remembered him, or someone from their old unit recognized him - or even Elder Maxson himself? Luki looked at his burned side in the mirror and stretched his neck. The scars were healing up nicely, but there were still visible chunks of his tribal tattoo; it'd easily identify him for the veterans of the Lyons' Pride. Knight Captain Colvin would know him even if he turned into a super mutant, for all the times they'd spent praying together and hanging out in the Lyons' Den during their R&R. Dusk would call him out the moment he aimed his rifle the way she taught him. Glade would pinpoint his stance the moment he got his hands on a gatling laser. Kodiak would taunt the way he held a super sledge. And Gallows...

Gallows was Gallows. That scary son of a bitch probably already knew Luki was in the Commonwealth.

How was he supposed to evade the detection of comrades whom he shed blood with, his closest _friends _that supported him - when they could have reported him - for vying for their commander's heart? God... Sarah... If his fake identity fell apart, what was Luki supposed to say regarding her true fate? They'll question him - maybe even interrogate him - until he fessed up on the details of whether or not she was considered MIA or KIA.

Every thought was making him more and more nervous, and that didn't bode well. He'd been injected in worse odds before, but it was nerve wracking to return to the Brotherhood and potentially see familiar faces again. He could only pray that they'd still trust him and understand why he disappeared from the Capital Wasteland.

Something caught his eye as a door hissed somewhere and he looked up at the mirror, but nobody was behind him. Not yet. He stifled his smirk and awaited the results of this _cat and mouse_ game, turning on the sink to rinse the hairs away as he set the razor aside. A scant few seconds later, and he suppressed the urge to jump when a small hand ran along his shoulder, though he still tensed even when he knew - or rather, assumed - that Sarah was okay. Her eyes betrayed nothing, and he couldn't resist his urge to tease a little.

"I can't tell if I'm going to make it out alive with the way you're looking at me right now, Sentinel." Hopefully she'd give him permission to use her real name soon.

Mischief plucked the corner of her lips in the subtlest smile. She said nothing, pulling on his hand as she circled them so that she could hop up and sit on the bathroom counter. It was _unsettling._ Confusing. Encouraging. He didn't know what he was supposed to say or do, wholly at the mercy of faith and her command. She hooked her finger on the cross that clanged on his holotags, bringing it up to _her _lips to kiss just like how he did every time he'd just finished a prayer.

That didn't bode well for her, either. Was Sarah just as nervous? Had to be, even if she never looked like it. She still had all the composure and confidence in the world, but she _had to_ have questioned the same things he did. Right? If only there was a way to ask without tipping off the Institute.

"I'm sorry we argued," she said loudly, and he damn near groaned. Could there actually be microphones in the _bathroom?_ He felt sorry for the fellow who had to listen to them pee.

Sarah's arms slithered loosely around his shoulders and she spread her legs so that he could fit between them, burying her hand in the back of his hair as she gently nudged his head as a _hint._ He kissed her neck, and she tugged him by his waistband until their groins were intimately pressed together.

No amount of disciplinary training in the Brotherhood could ever prepare him for the tragedy that was about to happen.

"_Tease,_" Luki murmured below her ear, kissing along the outer shell of it. He cleared his throat when she jerked on his waistband - another hint. "Will you be joining my mission, then?"

"No."

...So what was the point of this tip-toeing?!

"I worked out a different deal with your _handler._" Sarah enunciated that to her greatest pleasure, and his greatest dread; he trusted her, but he didn't look forward to taking orders from the negotiator that murdered Piper and Leo without remorse. Even if they were synths... That shouldn't have been their existence. To be born just for the sole purpose of being executed? He wouldn't wish that fate upon anybody or anything.

"A different deal?"

"Mm-hm." Sarah took her sweet time as her nimble fingers played with his zipper. Down. Up. Down... Up... Down...

_Maddening._

"Care to elaborate, Sentinel?" Luki nearly seethed through gritted teeth, his breaths already growing labored as something below grew between them. He sought revenge as he suckled on her neck, proving that - while she may be allowed the upper hand to guide this where she needed him to be - he would not be _bullied_ around so easily. He groaned when she promptly reprimanded him as she pulled his hands down to rest on her hips, and within a fleeting second, she used his arms as _cover_ to hide the swift hand that undid her zipper, exchanging a piece of paper from her fly to his. She leaned back as she zipped his pants ever so harshly, smiling ever so sweetly.

"No."

**_Maddening!_**

"Care to say _why?_"

Sarah shrugged. "I'm not at liberty to discuss confidential information with someone I consider my enemy." That greatly contradicted where her hands wandered as they snuck under his shirt, and she sank her blunt nails into him as she raked them down his stomach. He snapped and grabbed her wrists, using momentum as he pulled her right off the counter and threw her over his shoulder. He marched out and struggled to keep his smile contained when Sarah had actually _cackled._

Curse this malicious woman. Why did she have to make everything so difficult? She could be so serious and so sadistic at the same time; they had to keep pretending, to keep up with this _cat and mouse_ game with the Institute. Lucky for him, she was his inspiration and sole reason that he could even manage to pull off any kind of asshole act. There was a part of him that - though everyone else may have assumed it _killed_ him to do this - Sarah knew he enjoyed it.

And he knew she enjoyed it just as much.

"Enemy, huh?" Luki tore off the bed sheets and allowed her to slip off his shoulder none-too-gently, slithering up her body as his elbows caged her head and trapped her against the bed. They couldn't afford to get too carried away lest whatever intel she'd slipped past his zipper would fall out; he had to get just as creative as her.

That wouldn't be an issue, considering she no longer hid any intel behind _her_ zipper. He smirked when he teased her the same way she had, undoing and redoing her zipper - until her impatient hand undid her pants, and tormented him as she played with herself. He buried against the crook of her neck and shoulder as he suckled in a patch of her skin and bit _hard,_ goading a delicious gasp. He tore her hand out her pants and roughly slammed it above her head, staring hard into her eyes. Her pupils nearly swallowed all the blue hues, her chest kicking in ragged breaths.

"Well, then... Until I receive my orders from my handler..." He smirked slyly, working his free hand in her pants to rub slow circles through her underwear. She caught on quick.

"Think you can torture me into submission?"

...He couldn't think of what to say. His plan lost it's bite, and he settled for a pitiful whisper. "No. I'll persuade you to defect."

Sarah laughed. Within seconds, she used his weight against him as she curled her ankle around the back of his knee, bumping her hips to throw him off balance. She handily zipped herself up and stood at the edge of the bed, smirking at him. For some reason, she took off her holotags and set it on the nightstand beside the bed.

Never before had such a simple action caused so much _weight_ to sit on his lungs.

"You still have a lot to learn if you think you'll ever be able to break me." Sarah nonchalantly placed her finger on the bulge of his pants. "You won't last a day spying on the Brotherhood if this is all it takes to rile you up and break your focus, Paladin."

And she left.

She _fucking..._

"_Fuck._" Luki flopped miserably on the bed, lifting his head to look down at the strained zipper. Whatever paper she slipped was wedged _very_ uncomfortably right now - a horrible reminder of their real priority. Did she have to be this merciless? Hopefully this style of sneaking intel or orders to him wasn't going to become a habit. There were plenty of other ways he could think of that didn't involve torturing _him_ into submission; especially when he was tense enough on the cursed account of this entire mess.

Every spare thought he had immediately gravitated to her. He missed her terribly even when she was here - but knew she soon wouldn't be. He was used to spending his nights away from her, but he was also used to the fact that she was still _with_ him, even from afar. It was always a comfort on it's own to know that she was watching over him and sleeping on the next rooftop.

He didn't waste a second as he took her holotags off the nightstand and slipped them on, worrying what the meaning was behind them. He also didn't understand her taunt that succumbing to her had anything to do with how he was going to infiltrate the Brotherhood either, but one thing was certain.

He deserved a war medal for surviving his commander like this.

"Somebody save me..."

**x - x - x**

Piper didn't bother to lift her head from her hands when she heard beeps at the door, accompanied by it hissing. She closed her eyes and paid careful attention to the footsteps - deliberate and light, but not clean and crisp like the coursers. Her insides twisted apprehensively at the sound of _apathy._ "Ms. Wright..."

"Ms. Wrong," she corrected venomously, looking up to glare at the old weathered gaze staring back at her with pity. "Y'know, in my experience - or, heh!" A wry and _wounded_ laugh exploded from her chest, shaking her head as it fell back in her hands. "In the _real _Piper's experience, people don't change. I should have suspected what I was the moment you called me in for some stupid interview to make you and the Institute look like benevolent angels."

The Director inhaled sharply. "I realize that we've not been benevolent in the way we've executed our plans in the past, but I was truthful when I told you that I am willing to work to change that and sow the seeds to a future where the Institute and Commonwealth can co-exist peacefully, and hopefully one day cooperate." The couch weighed heavily as he had the gall to sit beside her, but at least he didn't fake some sort of sympathetic touch. "And I assure you, you _are_ the real Piper Wright. I know that the Institute has a lot to work on, and yours is really the epitome of the Commonwealth's perspective of us. If we cannot convince you, we have no hope of convincing the Commonwealth that we are here to help."

"Because you're _not._ You're here to help yourselves. That's why you've copied me, because you know-"

"You are not a copy, Ms. Wright. I will admit there has been a copy made prior to my overriding that order, but that copy has since been..."

Piper shot a seething look up at him as her eyes narrowed. "_Disposed_ of?"

"Not by us," he countered immediately, his shoulders squared away in defense. "She took her own life when she found out what she was, thanks to Mr. Butler."

Chills shot down her spine, and her throat tightened. Her fingers dug into her palm as they balled into tight fists, and she pushed herself off the couch to wedge distance between herself and the Director. She was frazzled, flustered, and in no state to think clearly as her brain continuously tried to nitpick him apart, to analyze and try to piece the puzzle together. Part of her wanted to believe the soft-spoken man, the other cried outrage that he was just a blind and obviously biased chauvinist.

The Director rose, and he motioned for the coursers in the room to leave. When they did, he approached her, though respected the space and _invisible line_ she'd drawn. "I am well aware that it is my word - a stranger you have, by all accounts, every reason to distrust - against the man whom you trust wholeheartedly, but all I have asked before and all I will still ask of now is that you give the Institute a _chance,_ Ms. Wright. I would not personally oversee this matter if I did not have hope in building the bridge between us and the Commonwealth. Consequently, if you truly were just a synth, you would be delegated to an entirely different division. I would not be here with you, especially when time is... _Precious_ to me, right now."

"If that was true, you'd order a stop for all 'divisions' to stop kidnapping and _copying_ people! You wouldn't be so worried as to keep me locked up in here if everything out there was genuine, and all your work was geared towards just 'helping' the Commonwealth. You'd want me out there to witness it - and instead you're hiding it from me."

"You are here because it was clearly recognizable that you were descending into a state of shock and distress. We have locked you here as a precaution for your _own safety,_ until I could come and assure you that you _are_ real and prevent any more unnecessary deaths - that consequently would once again traumatize other people." Traumatize other people? Just what the hell did the... 'Synth' Piper do? "As a result, Mr. Butler will not be allowed to communicate with you anymore and is being cleared to return to the surface as we speak."

That petrified her.

Every part of her felt like she was going to fall apart right then and there as heat quickly collected, burning her from the inside out. She wanted nothing more than to _scream,_ to get all the garbage out of her system so that she could see all of this for what it truly was. Like: what if she was the one who was obviously biased here? What if there was a speck of truth in what Shaun was saying?

"After that, I will adhere to your request of allowing you to tour our facilities once your new guard is prepared for you, and as a gesture of faith, I will also issue an order to the Robotics division to stop acquiring and replicating DNA." Acquiring? Was that how he really saw all of this? What in the world prevented him for recognizing that the Institute was _destroying,_ and not replicating? "We should have enough genetic diversity in our database that-"

"I can't listen to this anymore," she croaked, catching the nearest chair when her legs gave out underneath her. She ran her hands along her face and sighed, trying to gather a hundred different thoughts; she couldn't make sense of a single one. "Please don't kick Garrett out," she mumbled, feeling more warmth pool and throb _behind_ her eyes. "I _need_ him."

"Even if he does not see that it is you?"

"I'll convince him that I am who I am."

"Even if he is plagued by fear and doubt? It is highly likely that he suspects everybody around him is a synth, and we cannot risk him disturbing the peace if he antagonizes others."

"_Please,_" she begged, and looked up at the Director. "If you want me to give you a chance, then you have to give him a chance. Let me convince him."

Shaun's posture caved, and he looked so tired. It was another surreal and baffling realization all on it's own to remember that he was Blue's _son._ How was John even coping with this information? If his baby boy was already well into his senior years, what did that mean for... His wife...?

All questions that burned on the tip of her tongue, but this was not the man to ask. She waited as patiently as she could for the Director to _bite._

And he did.

"How do you intend to, Ms. Wright?"

"Move him here. I want him to stay with me - and I also want your assurance that we will have privacy. I _know_ you're watching and listening in on me from somewhere."

The Director's lips thinned in a frown at that. "I'm afraid that in order to have Mr. Butler here, then - for your safety - we would need to retain visual on you."

"Audio, then. No visual." Piper pretended to blush, embarrassed - which wasn't too difficult with what she was about to imply. "To answer your question about how I intend to convince him: through_ physical_ means, and I don't want strangers _seeing_ me. I hope this isn't too unreasonable of a request." And, just to make sure she could sell it and see if there was _any_ ounce of empathy in this place, she landed her killing blow. "I can't imagine anyone in the Institute would be comfortable, knowing them and their loved one could be recorded during their acts of intimacy."

Shaun's brow arched, though he still managed to stay composed. She prayed with all her might he wouldn't press any further. He pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed his forehead, then nodded with a heavy sigh. It took all of her not to pump her fist in victory for finally getting the one-up on this man; though it arose an entirely new issue to brew inside of her as she continued to wage war over the authenticity behind his words and gestures.

"Very well, I agree to your terms. I will delegate this task directly to our Chief Engineer of the Facilities Division and she will oversee the appropriate arrangements to be made tonight." The Director left for the door, gesturing to the coursers to follow. "I will also cancel the lockdown and you will regain full access to your apartment." He stopped, casting a look over his shoulder. She struggled not to beam a grin and rose from the chair as she clasped her hands in front of her, her pride struggling just as much to convey her sincerest gratitude.

"I have to admit, this definitely caught me by surprise. Thank you for taking the time to come check on me and to listen to me, Director."

"Shaun, please." He smiled small, adding to the rubbery looking wrinkles to his complexion. "You have been a good friend to my father, and any friend of my father's is a friend of mine. Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you." He tucked his hands inside the pockets of his lab coat, his spine hunching forward as his display of confidence and dominance seemed to be no longer deemed needed, revealing the consequences of age. He maintained manners all throughout the end. "Good evening, Ms. Wright. May you sleep well."

"You too."

Relief washed over her and flooded out the tension the moment all doors were unlocked, and she was left alone. She let go of a breath she hadn't even known she held, dumping herself back in her chair as she buried her head in her hands. She'd gone off and fired a plan she hadn't even come close to formulating fully, and it _hurt_ to _breathe_ just knowing how many challenges awaited her and Garrett. She wasn't going to get anywhere if he couldn't trust her, real or 'not'.

_"I'll convince him that I am who I am."_

How was she supposed to when she still didn't really know? She wasn't just going to gobble up the Director's word for it, no matter how badly she wanted to believe it. She needed proof; but did it matter? It did to her. The staple of her core being was _truth,_ and if she wasn't truly Piper Wright, then she had no right to assume that identity.

Neither did the Garrett the Director would _send _her have any right to assume his.

**x - x - x**

Luki looked around in the bathroom before he stood in front of the toilet. He couldn't be seen diving under the bed covers _every_ time Sarah and him met - regardless of how she visibly frustrated him. If there were cameras that watched him from the side, he was screwed, but he'd hoped the Institute had a little more modesty than that.

As he undid his zipper and yanked his boxers down, he took out the paper she snuck to him and held it beside his penis as he peed - sorry, fellow who had to listen to this. Luki must **n****ever** tell Sarah about this... _Creative..._ Method of reading her order - or intel. He unfolded it precariously and tried to stall, stopping himself and going, stopping himself and going; it was a lot harder than he imagined. He nearly froze outright at the list scribbled down - and what had him _stuck_ was seriously _not_ what should have been his top priority.

_1\. Insert yourself into the Brotherhood of Steel as Paladin Luki Lyons.  
2\. Don't let them perform a medical exam on you, and do not ever get injured around them while exposed to radiation.  
3\. If they ask about me, confirm that I'm dead and give them my holotags as proof - but say you found them. Not my body.  
4\. If they ask why you went missing, say you were distraught by the loss of your wife and struggled to return to your duties, and instead became a gun for hire.  
5\. They will likely perform a psychological exam. Agree to it and say whatever it takes to get cleared to serve again.  
__6\. Dominate any test they throw at you to determine if you are fit to retain and resume carrying the rank of Paladin._

_Remember that **YOU ARE.** You've been trained by the best of the best.  
_

_7\. Say hi to Colvin for me. That old codger better be a Sentinel by now. And find out Gallows' real name. I still have a bet to win.  
_

Seriously, at least he wasn't the only one with skewed priorities. He bit his tongue before he read seven out loud and fought through the urge to roll his eyes. He folded the paper and hastily tucked it back in after he finished, catching it on his zipper so that it wouldn't fall out when he walked. The inside of his cheek grew sore and stung the harder he bit it to stop himself from grinning like a fool. He was going to kiss the hell out of her the second he saw her again, and if she warned that it trifled with their cover, he'd just insist he missed her terribly - which _was_ true no matter what angle they played.

Holotags clicked and clanged together, and he looked down as he thumbed over the ones Sarah gave back - his, originally. Something caught his eye and he flipped them to read the screen; for the second time, he nearly froze, and had to force himself to keep walking to the bed. All this time, he craved to have a more concrete confirmation of their relationship - their future.

_"Yeah, sure, whatever. If you really consider swapping holotags marriage."_

Lord Almighty, did she ever give it to him. She reprogrammed the information on his holotags - something she would have had to have done only in possession of the Brotherhood's technology that would have enabled her to accomplish this. Did she do it herself, or did she ask a scribe? He could only see her trusting and asking Rothchild so as not to confirm the rumors of their _fraternization_ and subject them both to punishment for it.

God... For ten years, she wore this...

_Last name: Lyons  
First name: Luki  
Registration: LL-216P  
__Blood Type: O negative  
__Religion: Christian_

"_Sarah,_" he breathed in reverence, and he lifted the holotags to his lips as he closed his eyes. His heart was ready to chisel it's way out of his ribs. That cruel, inspiring, terrifying and _terrifyingly sweet_ woman. She knew how to kill him, and she did it well; one shot, one kill. What a fool he must have looked like back then, when he issued his new vow to her.

_"I'm marrying you, Sarah Lyons. And I'm taking your name."_

That _devil_ already assumed he would. It was a wonder she had not gloated to the heavens, though executing calculated plans was always more her pride and style. It was _no_ wonder why she wore that ineradicable smug smirk the entire time they made love, though... And to think he was so foolish as to credit it to saying the Brotherhood would revere the Lyons as much as the Maxsons. She never cared for credit. Only results.

Finally, for the first time, Luki went to sleep knowing there was something worth fighting for; not just the Commonwealth's future, or his future...

But the future of the Lyoness' Pride.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

_Thank you very much for taking time to review, neverquitelogistical! This is my biggest endeavor at weaving a whole bunch of small storylines together so I definitely appreciate the feedback, as I'm trying to balance between exploring what every character is going through, and at the same time, keep moving along to tie the knot with the plot. With stories I've written in the past (Gun for Hire being the easiest example), I've only centered on just the main characters and how the world reacted to them, rather than building the world around them and have them react to it.  
_

_As you've questioned with Nick, I've yet to explore that in greater depth, along with what both Sarah and John are doing on the sidelines in the mean time (and the deal John's worked out with Shaun. Suffice to say, Piper will not be thrilled). We're still at__ the tip of the iceberg, but I'll do my best to strike a balance between exploring characters and rolling the plot along in everybody's respective factions, while trying to solve the great mystery behind justification._

_Because bad guys don't always believe they're the bad guys ;)_

_That's it, that's all! Sorry for the long winded AN there but thanks again for the review. Hope everybody enjoyed this chapter and see you next time, have a lovely day. Cheers!  
_


	14. Forgive Me For My Confession

_**[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE**__**]  
Chapter 14: Forgive Me For My Confession  
Warning - **light NSFW after it shifts to Piper's perspective halfway in  
_

* * *

"Mr. Butler?" A woman broke Gat from his reverie and he reluctantly lifted his head from his hands, glaring at her. The woman was clad in a lab coat bearing whatever facility yellow was supposed to represent, accentuated by her gold-blonde hair. She held a clipboard in her hands and wore a thin smile. "My name is Doctor Allie Filmore. I am now in charge of you, and it's fallen to me to relocate you to different living quarters."

"In charge of me? Did something happen to that Adam guy?"

"No, not at all. This is just the Director's request as per a deal struck with Ms. Wright."

That didn't sit well with him at all, and he scoffed as he buried his head in his hands again. "Yeah, whatever..."

"Well, then, I'll interpret that as compliance. If you'll follow me, we will go retrieve your belongings and move to her quarters."

"_What?_" His head shot back up and he studied her, though she remained indifferent and simply waited for him. Will this place ever stop treating him like a dog? "And this is what she asked for?" Just what was her plan, or theirs? There wasn't any way he was prepared - or ever will be - to see the face of the woman he had condemned to wherever they were holding the _real_ Piper, and have replicas condemned to thinking they're her. He bristled when the doctor nodded plainly. "Does this mean I won't get to visit my family anymore either?"

"That privilege is at the discretion of the Director. He canceled the order to expel you to the surface, and so he will be monitoring your situation to deem if you are _stable_ enough to continue visitations."

"Stable?" Gat seethed, snapping up into standing. It didn't escape his notice - he would have had to have been _blind_ to - when a couple coursers took note and began to approach, hands hovering over guns. Whatever threat he posed hadn't deterred the doctor, and she nodded plain and simple again. _Aggravating._

"Indeed. He's concerned over the welfare of your family and believes you may engage in unsafe behavior with them, as you've proven to do so with Ms. Wright."

"Unsa-? Are you fucking _kidding_ me right now?!" His hand whipped out to the side, gesturing to the tiny pods he was once stuffed in. "Do you seriously expect me to play nice with fucking fakes, and eat up all the lies you're shoving down my throat? To hell with you fucking assholes, you're the fucking reason I'm 'unstable'! _Concerned?_ He doesn't even know them, and I wouldn't ever lay a hand on them the way **you** fuckers did, or are we just going to pretend that didn't happen either?!"

"Please mind your language as we have children in this facility and zero tolerance for disrespect," Allie stated brusquely, and she had even measured up to his level as she took a step closer, lowering her voice. "This is exactly the proof we are talking about regarding your stability and mental health. We 'seriously' expect you to adhere to our rules; my advice? Don't spurn this chance the Director has given you _again _if you ever want to see your family."

Gat was ready to explode, but he held it in as best as he could. His jaw clenched painfully and he seethed through gritted teeth, "_fine._ But I have a request of my own to take to Ms. Wright. If she wants to be with me, then she moves to _my _quarters, not the other way around."

"Is there any particular reason for this?"

There was, but he wasn't stupid enough to fess up the truth to this woman. "Yeah, if she wants to prove she's the real Piper Wright, then she better listen to me." He smirked when annoyance flared in Allie's eyes, and though he knew he'd get in shit for this someday - if he ever confessed, that was - he braced himself to be the kind of arsehole his pa was, angling his head as he leaned in close. It was enough to spark a hint of fear and discomfort in her eyes, and he used it to his advantage to crawl under her skin. "I'm not interested and have no use for women who can't follow simple orders - just like the Director and you, right?"

"Frankly, Mr. Butler, I don't care who you think you are. In this facility, you'll address the Director, me, and _all _women with respect." Allie snapped, and she stepped back to wedge space between them as she openly glowered, her dainty demeanor gone with the wind. "However, out of the Director's wishes to faciliate peace and cooperation, I'll still bring this request to both Ms. Wright and the Director to decide what arrangements will be made. In the mean time..." She looked over at the coursers. "Please escort Mr. Butler back to his quarters."

"No need, I know my own way back." Gat shrugged off the first hand that dared come upon his shoulder, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he began to stroll down a hallway without caring what went on behind him. He heard the sounds of guns unholsters but didn't stop. If 'Piper' was able to convince the Director to agree to such a request, they had the upper hand of some sort, and there was value left in them yet.

"Mr. Butler," a monotone voice rang out, "in the name of the Institute, I order you to stop." A beat. "Please."

Seriously? Fucking manners from a robot? Just what the hell do they do to the synths to brainwash them to this degree?

Gat was beginning to _pity_ them, honestly.

"Piss off. I ain't a fuckin' dog." He shot a glower over his shoulder at the courser that advanced towards him. "And you shouldn't be one either."

It didn't even make the courser flinch or hesitate even a second to apprehend him, and he sighed when a bruising hand ensnared his elbow, muscling him down the hallway. "Oh yeah, still headin' down the same way. This sure makes a huge fuckin' difference," Gat spat under his breath. It pissed him off when he couldn't rouse a reaction whatsoever, but that was the least of his concerns.

On the walk back, he raced with ideas that would hopefully be a little less _gut-rushed_ than his request to bring Piper to him instead of her quarters. Hopefully she'd have enough of the _Wright instinct_ to deduce there was an ulterior motive other than him being a blatant dick and 'ordering' her around. Regardless of being a synth or not, this way it'd be easy for _both_ of them to tell just how safe her quarters truly was if the Director denied the request. Thanks to Adam boasting about his division before, Gat knew his quarters were safe.

Hopefully Piper remembered that _he_ wasn't.

**x - x - x**

L-3-0. What a sick joke. Leo stood, wrists clasped neatly behind him as Adam cheerfully described his pet project in unfiltered detail to a man Leo assumed was in charge of this place, if the 'cybernetics division' was in danger of being shut down. He still didn't have a voice, and for some reason, not all things he dearly wanted to exact were _reflected_ in action. He would much rather choke Adam, but every time he looked at the scientist, he couldn't even force himself to snarl.

Everything was dull and numbed, almost like the high Leo would get from chems, but he was still fully coherent instead of being lost in a blissful fog. He stared at the 'leader', wishing that his misery could somehow show through fake robotic eyes. As Adam droned on and on and on over the usual psychopathic schpeel, Leo began to pick apart the hypocrisies in the sociopath's ambition.

Mankind, redefined? Another joke. What Adam did was took a dead man and ripped him apart until he turned into a robot - or half of one, at least. How was that any better than the synths the scientist so often spat on in disgust? Leo was just as much of a fucking machine as them, now. Ironically enough, even the latest synths were more human than him. Mankind sure was redefined and _fucked up_ for sure.

"And what of the enhancements you provided to Mr. Butler? Have you been maintaining visual through his cybernetics, and have they been performing as hypothesized?" The leader asked, though seemed dismissive and disinterested judging from his tone - he had already made his judgment, hadn't he? What would that mean for Leo if the cybernetics division was permanently shut down? It made him shudder to even let his mind wander for a _second__._ And in that second, the smile on Adam's face faltered. It was renewed with passionate exuberance as he once again descended into another bout of boasting, fingers rapidly firing on a terminal in order to display more evidence through the projector.

Adam was desperate, wasn't he? If he lost whatever point he was trying to prove here, than Leo was sure he would lose his life.

"All I ask is for L-3-0 to _prove_ what all these enhancements can be capable of, Director. Mr. Butler did, as you can see in the graphs here, and that was just through the more minimally-invasive series I had installed in him. L-3-0 has my entire arsenal, and would be much better suited than some measly _babysitting_ duty that a gen 1 synth could fulfill."

Leo's gaze snapped to Adam. Where the hell was this sick fuck taking this now?

"What do you propose?" The leader, or rather the 'Director' - that meant he was the head honcho of this entire place, right? - wearily took a seat, old bones popping along.

"Live field tests. Have L-3-0 watch over the mutant, and then we will have raw data over stealth capabilities. Then we can test his combat efficiency by having him fight the mutant. We'll also be able to see a demonstration of a wide variety of methods that L-3-0 will be able to incapacitate the mutant in the event we move forward to capture and research it."

Mutant? Like super mutant? Were they about to pit him against some sort of fucking _behemoth?_

The Director folded his hands over his mouth, and now more than ever before, Leo wished he could scream and protest to the insanity of all this. He would much rather face the fury of Piper than a grotesque monster that could literally crush him with a _finger._ He was still condemned to silence and his body hadn't responded to any command that revolved around running away.

"Very well, I approve of this - but make sure you handle this task with _discretion _this time. We cannot afford to alarm anyone anymore." The Director's withering gaze fell on Leo, seemingly scrutinizing him before it shifted back to Adam. "Are you sure you can control him?"

"Control? Of course not! That's not necessary, because he's fully compliant and loyal to both me _and_ the Institute."

What the hell? Just how delusional was this freak?!

"Good." The Director's hands fell from his mouth, revealing a thin-lipped smile. What came out of his mouth next froze Leo in his tracks, and clearly _relieved_ Adam.

"I know you've been working hard to hear this. I'm proud of you, my son."

**x - x - x**

Piper couldn't stop trembling as she packed her things - not that there was much to pack to begin with, and it still took her ages. She paced around her apartment and waved at her cheeks in a sorry attempt to bring cool air to them, stripping herself down to a tanktop as she struggled not to pass out from the heat that anxiety wrought.

What would she say when she saw him again? What would he say? What did this request of his mean? It better have not meant that he had some delusional idea that she'd be his _servant_ if he truly believed she was a synth. He'd get a stern lecture if that was the case - that she wasn't a synth, and that kind of ideology was _exactly_ what the Institute believed in. That ought to change his mind real quick if her first point rang hollow. She couldn't believe she was even apologizing to the doctor who was visibly infuriated over the nature of his request, and had not reserved her opinion of Garrett. It was both amusing and _annoying_ that Piper could actually empathize with the doctor.

Beeps announced someone coming into the apartment, and she hesitantly left the bedroom to see who it was. Apprehension balled a lump in her throat as her mind wandered with ideas, though it promptly died when she saw the courser waiting in her living room. He wore a polite smile and gestured to the door. "Are you ready to depart, Ms. Wright?"

"Um... Not yet, sorry. Can I have five more minutes?"

"Yes, of course. Are you sure you do not wish for any assistance? I can carry your-"

"That's not necessary, but thank you very much. It won't be much longer, I promise." They should know how little she had to pack - and that was probably why they'd ordered the courser to check in on her, especially if they watched her from cameras and saw her pace about. She had to start being a lot more mindful of what she was doing and assume that the Institute could see and hear _everything._ She melted with relief when the courser took his leave without bidding farewell, a lapse of manners that was _normally _there; likely a script they had to follow to appease her.

How little did those coursers think for themselves? How much did they scream inside for freedom? She made a mental note to see if she could interview coursers someday; even if the conversation was recorded, there were plenty of other things confessed in other ways besides words. She went back to her bedroom and steeled herself for another hot flash when she begun to stuff her spare clothes in a small suitcase. That this was all they offered her was an infuriating reminder of how much power and control they held over her.

Not for long.

Piper donned her black trench coat and grabbed the ends of her hair to pull it out when it was ensnared inside the jacket. She forced herself out, ignoring the memories that hit her as she strode across the living room. She shook again at the thought that she would be face to face with Garrett soon, praying he was the _real_ one. That the Director granted his request could be interpreted any number of ways - and it being a gesture of faith that the Institute was ready to move forward was the _last_ thing Piper believed.

Manipulation was like a grand game, and she refused to be the pawn, as well as investigate as to who the other pieces were on the chess board. She was going to move in silence until it was time to say _checkmate._

"Alright," Piper stated as sternly as she was _not_ when the door opened and revealed the patient courser. Her lips thinned in a subtle smile. "I'm ready."

"This way, please," the courser gestured down the hallway before he took the lead.

Every step echoed in her brain, and the white noise buzzing in her ears gradually grew louder as she wondered how much longer the trek would be - even though they'd barely walked. She observed other scientists that passed by, stifling her frowns when children were often by themselves. It was a harrowing reminder of _Nat,_ and emotion balled up in Piper's throat. She cleared it as subtly as she could, fixating her mind on something else.

Someone caught her eye the moment one of the hallway doors slid open, and she openly glared at the thin man she had burned into memory: Adam. The willowy scientist hadn't noticed her, however. He took off in the same direction they headed in, alongside some other... _'Man'...?_ Mechanical eyes - ones that bore another heartbreaking reminder as her mind's eye brought forth the image of _Nick_ \- snapped to her and sent shivers racing down her spine. Her gaze fell on the metal arm, and on the boundless amounts of surgical scars marking nearly every inch of skin. She was stuck the same time the man was. He just stood there and stared at her, then suddenly advanced towards her. The courser blocked her and held an arm out to the man.

"Sir, you need to-"

The courser was _flung _aside. Piper yelped when the metal hand clamped down on her arm and jerked her roughly, and she reeled back her suitcase to launch at him. He lifted his other arm and took the brunt of the impact without any visible grimace, ripping the case from her hand and throwing it aside.

"Let go of me!" Piper yelled, and every attempt to hit was deflected. Both her wrists were ensnared, and Adam's shouts for security bounded off the hallway walls. Footsteps thundered from both ends, and she was frozen in time as the mechanical eyes bore into her. The man's mouth opened, but nothing came out, and his forehead creased as his face flushed hot red. He just _stared_ at her and never at all seemed to struggle even as she thrashed with all her might. She exhausted herself in no time, and he hastily took the moment to turn her palm up, his chilling metal finger tracing _something_ on her skin.

Within seconds, a group of coursers ripped the man away. "Unhand him!" Adam screamed at the top of his lungs. "Or you defects will damage 3-0! I can handle this!"

He clearly didn't, if he had to call for the coursers in the first place.

Piper almost smirked at that, but she was stuck on the way '3-0' still stared at her, metal hand reaching towards her. He poked his palm with his 'real' hand. If that was real. Her gaze panned to Shaun when he emerged at the entrance from the doorway and watched over the commotion. 3-0 abruptly ceased fighting the coursers, and his every move was stiff and mechanical as the crimson faded from his complexion.

"Ah, Director!" Adam laughed nervously. "Everything's under control here, we're on our way to the armory now."

"See to it that it remains that way." Shaun's weary eyes settled on her, and he approached her with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about that. Are you harmed?"

"No, I'm fine, thank you." _God_ was it ever hard to force those words out. "The coursers got him away from me in time." She nodded in gratitude when her guard retrieved her suitcase and handed it back to her, and she looked at Shaun. "Thank you, also, for trusting in me and granting the request of me moving to Garrett's room instead."

"See to it that my trust is not misplaced," he warned bluntly, gesturing to the courser. "Your guard will remain outside at all times, so be sure to call on him if Mr. Butler does or _says_ anything unfavorably towards you, and you will have your old quarters back if you so desire." He turned back and shuffled inside as if he was absolutely _exhausted_, his gait betraying his age. "Please take care of yourself around him, Ms. Wright. I would hate to hear of something ill befalling you."

"I'll be just fine, you'll see." Piper clutched her suitcase, her thumb tracing the letters drawn on her palm into the handle. She needed to find out what 3-0 was trying to tell her. "Also: after I get settled, when may I begin my interviews and tours around the facility?"

"As soon as you'd like. Have a good afternoon." The conversation was clipped short when Shaun pressed a button and the door slid shut. She wondered what could have caused him to be that tired when it wasn't even the middle of the day yet. She wasn't granted the time to decrypt the puzzle as the courser gestured to the hallway and took the lead again as if nothing ever happened, and she wasn't anywhere closer to figuring out what was drawn on her hand. The letters - or symbols - didn't make sense. Was it an entirely new language or something?

Piper wished she had more time - not just to get to the bottom of all this, but to _not_ get to the top where Garrett resided. Her heart stopped the moment the courser did, in front of a door, and pressed one of the buttons that seemed to engage the intercom as he leaned towards the speaker. "Mr. Butler? Ms. Wright has arrived."

It felt like a year passed before that door finally slid open, and she inhaled sharply, holding her breath as they stared at each other. The light in his eyes _died, _as if there was no hope or life in them left. It felt like another year rolled by when Garrett finally turned and held his arm out inside the room. "Come on in, Boss."

"Please inform me if you need any assistance," the courser murmured as she forced herself to walk past him, and into the wolf's den. She still had no clue what was going on through Garrett's mind with a request like this, and she dearly hoped he had not planned to _harm_ her - whether physically or verbally - but she came prepared to communicate the truth safely, without the Institute snooping on them. As soon as she heard the door slide shut behind her, she set the suitcase down against the wall and patted her pockets to find her notepad. Her hand slipped in, but it was torn out and a hand slapped over her mouth before she could yelp.

"_Don't scream,_" Garrett hissed in her ear; it was counterproductive, considering that was _all_ she wanted to do. Her body ignited and thrummed with adrenaline once more, ready to fight for her life just as she had with 3-0, until all the fight was drained from her with a single fact. "They see through me - but we're safe to talk here."

Piper froze. The pieces of a puzzle fell together, and fury boiled in her blood when she remembered of the possible _cameras_ hiding inside Gat's eyes. Did Shaun know about that fact, too? Had he agreed to her request only because he'd found a loophole to retain both visual and audio? If he knew, though, then why would he give it up and grant Garrett's request for her to move here? There still had to be _something_ here.

"Are you sure, Garrett?" She muffled in his palm, and he lifted it away from her mouth.

"I'm sure, or that prick Adam would've lost his job with the shite he said." A beat, and they both sucked in sharp breaths, though for different reasons. "Do you... Remember Adam?"

"I remember every little thing since the day we've met. I'm _me,_ Garrett." It was hardly convincing with how numb she sounded. She sighed when he grew rigid, and so did she when he buried his face in the crook of where her neck met her shoulder, through the collar of her trench coat blocked any feel of his lips or his breath. "I know I am."

"So did the last one."

"How do you know you're _you?_"

"I don't," came the honest confession. "I'm assuming I am, only because of the... Cybernetics."

"Then if you don't know you're you, then how do you know I'm not me? And don't say the 'eyes' again, because your eyes look cold and dead too."

Silence fell. He sucked in a slow breath, his hands wandering aimlessly. She was tempted the moment they slipped past the open flap of her coat and held her hips. "I don't know the truth about anything anymore," he whispered brokenly, and the way his voice cracked and rasped had driven a knife straight into her heart. His hands slid up her waist, pain briefly zinging all her ribs when he clung tightly. "I'm _scared_ because I miss you, and I need you, and I don't know if I can kiss you. It'd be cheating if I'm kissing the wrong one, wouldn't it?"

"_...This _is what you're most concerned about right now? _Really__?_" Not being kidnapped. Not the reality of their own existence, but whether or not it would be considered: "_fucking_ _cheating?_ I better have misheard that, Garrett." She muscled her way to turn around and cradled his jaw, fighting past his resistance as she narrowed her eyes. "Look at me. If the Institute is watching, then they better fucking see the face I'm making right now."

For some reason, Garrett was _smiling._ Even though it was largely entrenched in sorrow, there was still a hint of mischief and eagerness. It only served to infuriate her even further. "This is really not the time to joke, you know that, right? This is literally _the worst time_ to."

"You're scary when you're mad, y'know that, right?" He shot back playfully as he looked at her, and there was a subtle spark of hope in his eyes, though was soon suppressed. "I told you I don't know anything anymore, and yes, that is what I'm concerned about. I don't want to piss off the real Piper. I mean, just 'cause you look like her don't mean nothing - or else people would have a free ticket with twins."

"I **am** the real Piper," she seethed through clenched teeth, shoving him by his chest - though it barely budged him. "And you're doing a fantastic job at _pissing. Me. Off._" Another shove until he hit the wall, and she didn't know what she wanted to do. She wanted to grab him and kiss him to _prove_ herself, to take what she dearly missed too, and yet at the same time she wanted to beat her fists on his chest. After all this time, he still retained the talent of driving her crazy enough to want her to push him off the cliff, and to catch him down below.

Instinct propelled her fists, though her hands were deflected down and her wrists were scooped up. She yelped when he twisted them and pinned her to the wall instead, his beard scratching her neck. Her heart kicked against her chest and she gasped when he roughly suckled in a patch of skin, nibbling on it between his teeth.

"If you're already mad, then you're really about to hate me, Boss."

Oh, sure, sign her up.

That wasn't ominous _at all._

"Do I want to know why? Is this another one of _those_ ideas of yours?" Piper rasped, eyes fluttering shut when waves of pleasurable shivers chased after the electrifying white-hot thrill that shot down her spine, as her starved skin was finally spoiled rotten with the warmth of his lips _and_ hands.

And then she froze stiff when he nibbled on the shell of ear, confessing his sin.

"Yup. Because the Institute is watching, and they're about to see the _fucking_ face."

Oh dear lord.

"Wha-? _Hey!_" Piper yelped when he threw her over his shoulder as if there was nothing to it, and she held on to his back for dear life, trying to bend to see over her shoulder as he marched. "Where are you taking me?!"

"Bathroom." The short and sweet answer did little to curb the wildfire consuming her face - like, was Garrett actually serious right now? Was this not a complete 180 to what he just said like... Not even two minutes ago? First he was scared of kissing her because 'cheating', and now he was implying that they have sex while being _fully aware_ that there were who knew _how many_ witnesses. It turned her off and frightened her, honestly, extinguishing the flame in the pits of her belly. She didn't care how much either of them missed the other; there were some lines she'd never cross. He let her back down on her feet, and she was absolutely petrified as she watched him open a glass cylindrical pod to turn the shower on, issuing a simple demand.

"Undress."

"G-Garrett..."

"Trust me," he whispered, but made sure he never faced her as he talked. How sure was he that they _really_ couldn't hear them? "Let them see enough to know what we're doing. I won't let them see your body. They'll be skeptical and want to get nosy about what we're talking about if they don't see us rutting, and my best guess is that's what they're hoping you'll do to _convince_ me." He began to strip, and Piper's eyes widened at the sight of ghastly scars that were _never_ there before. She absentmindedly came up to him, running a finger along one that cut straight down his spine.

"My god... What did they do to you...?"

"You don't want to know." He sounded so _ashamed,_ so uncertain, and his shoulders caved forward as he hesitantly turned to face her. It destroyed the image of the tough man he always postured to be, and his eyes were dead again. "It's why I don't really care to wonder if I'm human or not - because either way, I'm not human _anymore._ Was also a part of the reason why I didn't wanna do nothin' back at the hotel in Goodneighbor. I was afraid when y'took off my shirt - afraid of you seeing this."

"And you're not afraid anymore?"

"I still am." A beat - and then her heart really sank. "But you're not human either." He grabbed the flaps of her jacket and roughly pulled it down, claiming her lips with a sense of _mindless_ ferocity, his eyes always open.

It made her sick to her stomach.

Garrett pressed a button to open the pod and pulled her inside, clothes and all, and trapped them inside. The heat inside here was unbearable as steam collected rapidly. The words died in her mouth when he dove down and kissed her, taking advantage of her gasp by slipping his tongue past the crevice of her lips. His hands clawed at her soaking tanktop, though there wasn't much room left for either of them to move. She was crushed against the glass wall, and her heart thundered in her throat when her pants loosened. He knelt to tug them down, encouraging her to step out of them.

His eyes were still open.

"**Garrett**," she warned, though her head lulled back and smacked the glass when he forced his way under her jawbone, nipping her throat as his hand slipped between her legs, touching her through her underwear; at least he kept his eyes out of the _danger _zone as he tended to her neck again. She couldn't feel anything because of the blasted wet fabric, and part of her was frustrated with it, while the other part screamed for sense to return and decipher where the hell he truly even stood anymore - until a pitiful whimper scalded her ear.

"_God, forgive me._"

That... Was unexpected.

But what came next wasn't.

"I don't know the truth, and it still isn't enough to stop me. I just miss her _so much..._" He grabbed her underwear and wrapped the thinner sides around his fingers, prying it apart until it had actually _ripped._ He peeled it away and she gasped when he grabbed under her thighs, lifting her up against the glass wall. She didn't have the chance to orientate to what in the bloody hell was going on, consumed by the moment she felt him prod against her entrance. He burrowed his face in her neck, and were it not for the choked sob that shook him, she would've assumed the wetness trailing down her neck was just the hot water.

"I _am_ real, Garrett," she murmured, clinging to his shoulders for dear life. Her hand wormed in the back of his wet hair, and she angled to kiss his temple as she chanted. "The one you're missing is _right in front of you._ I'm real. I'm me. You're not doing anything wrong."

"_I'm sorry._" The frailty tore her heart apart, and her eyes began to burn. He still didn't believe her - and she was _almost_ angry that he'd still go through with this, but she wasn't one to talk when there was no certainty for her either. She was caught in limbo, desperate to feel him inside her one more time - to feel _complete_ and _safe_ and _loved_ \- and the other part begged for their senses to return to them, to think about the dangers of their predicament.

She was just as lost as him when he succumbed to the same desperation.

"I'm sorry," he chanted as he sank inside of her, setting a frantic pace as he thrust aggressively. The water dulled the sensations somewhat, and she wished he'd ripped her drenched tanktop off as well. It drove guilt home that she selfishly indulged in the need for this _comfort_ just as much as him, despite the paranoia overwhelming them in their minds. She groaned when her legs were pushed out wider as his hips slammed hers, and bucked in rhythm when pressure steadily melded to pleasure, nails clawing across his back. He hissed and cussed and they grew rougher with each other, greedy for more.

Breathing in here was like trying to suck air through a straw, and what air she gulped for was squeezed out her lungs when she tilted her pelvis, catching a sweet spot that made white flash behind her eyes. It disappeared quickly when he slowed down, his pace slacking and movements mechanical, and she was prompt to reignite the passion he once made sure she _learned_ that he had.

"_Harder,_" she hissed vehemently. "If you're going to do this anyways - whether I'm 'real' or not - then at least love me the way you would if I were real."

Maybe then instinct would take over and be proof enough for him.

"Fuck you," Garrett growled, slamming his fist on the button to open the glass wall. She yelped as chilling air nipped her, her heart racing at a furious pace as he carried her - _still inside her _\- out to the bedroom. He withdrew himself from her and threw her on the bed, then dragged her to the edge by her ankles. He pinned her wrists above her head as he entered her again, while his free hand fought it's way under and released the suction her tanktop held to her skin, sinking blunt nails as he gripped her breast hard enough for dull pain to diffuse along the entirety of it.

His eyes were still open, and she stopped caring.

"Fuck," he chanted amongst a mix of apologies, and they only irritated her. She pushed her wrists against his hands until he released her, and she shoved him by his chest to give herself enough space to climb up on the bed, and rose high up on her knees. She motioned for him to come back, cradling his jawbone as she kissed him with every ounce of _rage_ and _love_ that she felt for this foolish man.

"I'm _me, _Garrett." She had to try. She wouldn't ever stop, but her voice cracked with emotion and it nearly overpowered her when lust was swept away by her real craving: to be mindlessly loved, and not mindlessly fucked. As soon as his calloused hands snapped back on her hips, ready to maneuver her however he saw fit, she grabbed his wrists and tenderly squeezed them as she urged. "_Please,_ Garrett. Listen to me. What's stopping you from believing that I'm real?"

Their ragged breaths filled the room, and the bed was getting soaked from the water that dripped off of them. She leaned away and stared hard at his eyes, now desperate for him to look at her, but he just glared at the ground. Shame intoxicated his voice.

"Because I took you here, and I saw them take you away, and then I saw you _die. _Now you're here again just like that, but I didn't see where _you_ came from. It's my fault you're here. It's my fault you died. And it's my fault they've brought _you_ to life. Everything's my fault, with you and my family and... Things are still bein' my fault 'cause I can't control myself, even now. I can't take this anymore. All of this hurts more than what my pa ever did to me." He knelt on the floor, and she was forced to sit back on her heels when he draped himself over her lap, his body trembling as much as his words. "_God, forgive me..._"

And what he confessed next terrified her more than this endless wondering of the _validity _behind their existence.

"_I just want to_ _die._"

Did validity matter if there was no existence at all?


	15. One Breath, One Step, One Day

_**[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE**__**]  
Chapter 15: One Breath, One Step, One Day  
**_

* * *

Piper stroked the unkempt head sleeping away on her lap, trying to ignore the way her legs were screaming and begging to be unfolded out from beneath her. She was surprised that Garrett even fell asleep like this, and she tugged on the bed sheets to sling across his lower rump, _not _surprised that there was still no show of modesty from him. In all fairness, she wasn't clothed either - and _god _was it ever fucking uncomfortable to just hang out, _literally hang __out, _like this. The bed's metal frame against her back took it's sweet time being warmed by her skin.

Sleep would be nowhere for her tonight, and her brain wouldn't stop racing. She struggled to stay together, though she hung on but a thread and desperately prayed to find strength in Garrett, only to find that he was trapped in the same predicament. It was _agony_ just to watch and hear him suffer this way, and she couldn't imagine what it was like to be in his shoes. Her head lulled back against the frame and she closed her eyes, cheeks puffing as she blew out a harsh breath.

All of this was her fault, and yet Garrett still blamed himself solely for it all. Didn't he see that they wouldn't be here if she wouldn't have put herself - and consequently everybody close to her - on the radar?

What was most terrifying was that she was utterly powerless and couldn't help him. She couldn't convince him she was _real,_ and she couldn't imagine what it must be like to still feel those feelings and be _this _paranoid whether or not the face was real or orchestrated; and at this point even she was beginning to doubt herself.

Part of her wanted to defend that: did it matter? But it did if her life wasn't truly hers, and now she was also beginning to understand why Nick suffered the way he did. He was stuck with memories not exactly his, but still felt all the feelings of them. It was a vicious cycle he couldn't break free from. It was a vicious cycle that now _she_ couldn't break free from. She just wanted the truth, and she learned a long time ago that most times the hunt to actually find out was a lot more painful than the truth itself.

Garrett shifted in her lap, and her heart melted when his hand came across and curled under her thigh, holding her for dear life. She leaned forward as much as she could and tugged on the sheets a little more, unsure if the Institute could see them from cameras beyond from his eyes. It still seemed so strange that the Director would grant such a request and give up an advantage she had yet to even discover.

Maybe Shaun _was_ sincere?

Regardless, they weren't going to get an eyeful of Garrett's rump. Even if he didn't care, **she** did. He deserved to hold consideration and respect for himself as she did for him.

Every time she wondered why he had such low self-esteem - surprisingly enough, with what smug things came out of his mouth sometimes - her cynical voice delivered the cold harsh truth every time. His father. She tried so hard not to think about it every time it came up, and it drove the point home when he confessed what he felt now was _worse_ than that torture. She chewed on her lip as she studied his features, brushing her knuckles down the length of his face before she traced his scruffy jawline. He looked so _peaceful_ now, and it was an expression she was convinced she'd never catch him awake with.

Piper sighed dejectedly, trying to derail her train of thought before she depressed herself out of her mind. On his cheek, she drew the letters that 3-0 sketched on her palm, but came up shorthanded in the well of ideas. "Huh, 0-3-Г?" Piper mumbled, wondering why the mechanical man offered up what she assumed was his name - in reverse - on her hand. At least it coincided with what she heard; maybe he thought they wouldn't say it? Was it the beginning of a machine exercising it's free will and intelligence?

Why _her?_

Whatever the case may be, she hoped she would never face him again. She tenderly prodded where he gripped her and winced at the dull throb. Mild discoloration, but no heavy bruise. Not yet. It seemed that was the only kind of bruise she was going to get in this wretched place - just hand prints all over her body. Her cheeks flushed hot when her mind immediately took that wrong, especially when her gaze snapped to the hand on her thigh.

Hopefully there weren't any cameras in the bathroom, because she was curious - and not looking forward to getting _caught _\- to check her hamstrings for when Garrett... Helped keep her _balanced_ in the shower. A little buzz fluttered in the pits of her belly at the memory, and she came down stern so as not to _squirm._

Seriously. What happened to priorities?

_"I don't know the truth, and it still isn't enough to stop me. I just miss her so much..."_

Instead of snapping them out of it, she fell victim to the same desire and went on a wild ride that she _knew_ she should have regretted, but didn't. She missed him just as much; and part of her - the old part of her - was mortified that she needed to feel him _physically, _rather than verbally, or emotionally, or just anything that didn't involve a random romp in the very place she despised from the depths of her soul. Sure, passion, yay passion... But what the hell happened to the time and place of these things? Then again, Garrett always sucked at being the judge of those - and she didn't particularly protest.

Why the hell was she _still_ so caught up on _this_ rather than the million other _far more fucking dire_ things that should seize immediate attention?

"I blame this on you," she whispered softly, smiling when she mussed up his eyebrow in revenge.

_"There we go! Knew y'were hidin' in there. Handyman, I am; fixed ya right up, was worried I fried yer brain there."_

_"Why do you always have to ruin it? We were having a moment, Garrett!"_

_"Haven't ya figured it out yet? I taint everything I touch, luv. And I know I can be a man of my word with this vow too: I'm going to ruin you in the most beautiful way possible."_

"I think about you a lot too, Garrett." She brushed her hair behind her ears and held them there when she leaned down as far as she could, pressing a kiss to his temple as a devilish smirk itched to twitch her lips. Once again temptation won - another thing that was totally wholly his fault - and she trailed feather-light kisses to his ear, murmuring the same words he vowed to her so long ago.

"And not every thought is innocent."

"Was a matter of time," he mumbled sleepily, catching her off guard. Her face flamed and she sat up straight, watching him as she wondered if her ears were playing tricks on her. He still looked as peaceful as ever, nuzzling into her lap even more if anything. If he was truly awake, he'd probably be diving away while screaming 'synth' or something to that effect. She was sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her when his lips moved. "You smell like her."

God... How much more could anyone take before it would be _okay_ to fall apart?

"Because I _am_ her," Piper whispered with the utmost tenderness as she could muster, even when she felt like her very core was fraying at the seams, throwing her into chaos as to who she even truly was anymore. Why couldn't Garrett see her? What could she do to make him at least hear her? She shivered when his head turned and he pressed his lips against skin, his beard grazing along her inner thigh.

"You taste like her, too."

Was he even hearing anything at all, anymore?

"Garrett..."

"It's scary, luv," he hushed ever so frailly, pressing chaste kisses up and down before his entire body worked like a well-oiled machine and seamlessly slithered up her body, leaving goosebumps in his wake when the chilly air attacked the moist patches of skin he marked her with. Her head lulled back and a breath shuddered out of her when he gently bit beside her navel, continuing his trek up her ribs. "Because I feel like I _belong,_ but..."

Hope flared and sank it's talons into it, even if it was the smallest scrap. She held on to it and refused to let go. "But?"

"But..." More kisses, trailing under the curve of her breast and up along the side. He thankfully kept his eyes closed the entire time, opening them only around the more _safer _parts of her body - but he never met her eyes. "But I don't have the right to, anymore. Why aren't any of you mad at me? You'd think the Institute would get it right and fuck with my head for fuckin' you over, and still being a selfish arsehole doin' this to you, right now. I don't get it. Not even my sis is pissed with me." He worked his way to her neck, enunciating every word with the faintest of kisses that left her starving for more. "Barmy birds, the lot of you."

"Because it's not your fault, Garrett. It's theirs. We're the victims." Her hands framed under his jaw, guiding him to look up even when he resisted her. She rested her forehead against his and closed her eyes, praying it would encourage him to stop this insanity and just take a moment to really _look_ at her, to see her and not his guilt. "And I'm being selfish too, you know. I haven't been stopping you, now have I?"

"_Why?_ You should be."

"Mm, I suppose I should." She smiled when she pulled away and met the gunmetal orbs, flared with annoyance. His mussed up eyebrow arched as he shot a deadpan _'really?' _look.

"And why not? The Piper I know would be raisin' hell that I'm gettin' all touchy at the worst time and place ever. She's always selfless too, lookin' out for number two instead'uv one."

"Well, the _real Piper _isn't because I've really, _really_ missed you too. And not just the time we've been forced apart here." It was clear he wasn't going to buy it, which was ironic, because he may as well have been the master of 'short and sweet' and this should have delighted him. She never really had to _think_ with him though, because every word always automatically poured from her without thought. It was one of the things she adored about him - because despite all the hardships, at least _this_ was effortless.

"When I realized you left me in Diamond City... The world felt like it just stopped. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. Then I found out the Institute took you away from me, and I was pissed the hell off enough to commit murder with a rusty bar, okay? Luki and... Leo... They stopped me. But I still did it later, anyways." She squeezed his jaw to silence his protest before he began, knowing fully well why his eyes hardened.

"And I haven't blamed you at all this entire time - not once - because when I figured out why you were really there in Goodneighbor, I could understand. I promise you I would have done _the exact same thing;_ and I would be just as confused, and conflicted, and heartbroken, and hate myself so, **so** much. And even then, I still can't imagine all that you're going through right now - but I promise you I _understand,_ Garrett. All I'm really asking for right now is for you to give me a chance, but I'll get it and won't blame you if you don't."

Silence draped over them, and Garrett slithered back down - thankfully with his eyes closed - until he settled back in her lap. He was the one to adjust the sheets this time, but he pulled it all the way over his head to cover her lap, and consequently exposed his rump. She rolled her eyes and made it a _point_ to tug it back, and soon found herself in a mini tug-o-war until she groaned. "If they can see, then they see my _bloatfly tits, _Garrett. I really don't care if they see my legs at this point, especially because they likely saw it all when they stuffed me in that pod."

There was a sharp inhale, though muffled. She nibbled on the flesh of her cheek when he blew a wet raspberry against her thigh, still hiding under the sheets. "You're more important than my arse, luv." Okay... But the boobs? Were they just going to ignore that part? "All this shite with me ain't nothin' they ain't seen before. _Definitely._" And she definitely wouldn't question that. "Wouldn't be surprised if they installed some sorta fuckin' chip in King Arthur to - who the fuck knows, collect data about many times I wizz versus jizz."

Flames consumed Piper's face, and she mumbled, dazed. "Once again you have not failed to surprise me at just how much _soap_ we need to clean your mouth."

Really, she should have known better than to blurt that. The sheets were kicked right off the bed - modesty damned for all, apparently - and Garrett shimmied over on his back, staring up at her from her lap. Self-consciousness kicked into gear and she draped an arm across her chest as she glared at him, but he just smirked away with that sinful glint in his eyes. "You love it."

This part? Not thrilling. But _somehow, _she still missed it. She huffed and slipped a hand over his eyes. "You're on the fast track to making sure _Queen Guinevere_ seeks out Sir Lancelot."

Raw laughter exploded and she beamed with immeasurable pride. Just, what, maybe ten or fifteen minutes ago, she was resigned to the fact that Garrett wouldn't really _genuinely_ smile anymore. Now here he was, noisy and _naughty_ as if nothing ever changed. She lifted her hand away, but not her arm. The silence between them fell again, and she teetered the longer he stared. "Garrett...?"

He closed his eyes, lips twitching, voice cracking. "I... Wager it hurts to hear, but... I dunno, luv. I'm not good with words like you, yeah? I dunno how to talk like you do."

"I'm not expecting you to. I'm not dating _me,_ I'm dating **you.**" She cracked a small smile at her own horribly-timed joke. "Even if whether or not we're boyfriend or girlfriend is a bigger question than ever before. Man of your word and context, remember? I don't need vows or promises right this minute, but... I guess... Well we have this big, scary monster in front of us, and I really don't think I can do this without knowing if you're behind me. I need to find the truth out about this place, and I think it's the only way we'll both get peace of mind about pretty much _everything_ at this point."

Garrett drew in an agonizingly long breath, and cold air swept over her lap when he pushed himself up into sitting. "I... _Don't know. _I just feel _stuck._ I want to try, believe me I _really fucking want to, _luv, but I'm just... Stuck. I dunno how to explain it. I dunno how to change it. It ain't like a switch. I wanna be there, and I think I'm... Kind of there? I just don't know." He sighed and raked his hands through his hair, posture caving over in defeat. Her gaze soldered to the long thick scar cutting down his spine, with little dots running down both sides of it. It was as if he was _stapled_ shut, and it nauseated her just to imagine that freakish scientist going trigger happy with his scalpels and god knew what other fucked up things he had at his disposal.

All of this torture, and Garrett probably didn't even recognize and regard it as such. He never complained about it - instead he was worried about what _she'd _think of him. Just like in the very beginning, when they were first both kidnapped together, he dismissed himself and focused only on her. He was always the first to call him a selfish arsehole, and the last to believe that he was - ironically enough - debatably _worse_ than her in the self-preservation and selflessness department, if he offered himself up in her place at every opportunity he sought to plea and negotiate.

One point after another fell into place as her brain slotted the puzzle pieces in. She reached out to him and squeezed his shoulder, feeling rock hard muscles tense beneath her fingertips. She wavered inside and her throat closed in on her when Garrett sucked a harsher breath in, his palm slipping over his eyes, his shoulders quivering. She rose on her knees and enveloped him in a crushing embrace from behind, burying her mouth into the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry," he whispered feebly, "I'm so _fucking sorry..._"

"It's not your fault," she urged, and in the back of her mind, realized that this right here kept repeating like a broken record. She wondered at all if it was anything akin to this 'PTSD' thing she read about long ago; if Garrett just kept reliving everything, then maybe that's why he was still _stuck._ There was no way of truly knowing if he couldn't verbalize - or maybe even be aware - of what emotions and memories were tormenting him. She prayed that wasn't the case - that time was all that was needed.

"Breathe with me, Garrett. In..." She felt his back expand into her chest. "And out..." And blew out with him, repeating it over and over again until the trembling in _both _of them stopped. They should have been laughing at this, at how they were being big crybabies and how _pointless_ it was to worry over something that was beyond their control; yet there was something so humbling and horrifying about it all to be constantly faced with the question behind the definition of humanity.

"One breath at a time," she absentmindedly murmured in between their orchestrated breaths, falling out of sync momentarily. "One step at a time... Then one day at a time."

"One breath," he echoed as his hands ran along the sides of her thighs, gently cupping her knees. "One step, one day." He sucked in a breath of his own, the tension from his body gradually trickling away. "Thanks for the hug, 'specially like this, luv, even if you're uncomfy as all bloody hell for it. Won't lie, kinda messin' with my head that yer still naked. I've been askin' myself whether it's somethin' that the real Piper would do."

Piper bit her tongue before she screamed _she would. _And then she smiled when he squeezed her knees.

"But you would. You're barmy and daft enough to suck it up just to make this big baby feel better. And on top of all that, yer still beautiful - inside and out - even while I'm bratty an' snotty."

"I'll let the daft thing slide only because we can both _definitely_ agree with absolutely no doubt whatsoever within our minds that you're a big baby." A beat. "Institute nailed that part."

Garrett laughed. He twisted, the gunmetal orbs finally dancing with life once again. "It's a bloody shame they haven't changed yer name to _Copy Wright. _Missed opportunity."

"Ooh~ I can tell you've been waiting to use that one, haven't you?" She beamed when he chuckled and nodded earnestly without a speck of shame. She rolled her eyes, shooting off a lighthearted jab of her own. "They missed out on changing your name to Mr. Handy. Maybe you've secretly been a robot all this time?" The way his cheek dimpled with a grin when they began firing with their mouths - instead of their guns - captivated her in a way she desperately wished would never fade ever again.

"Mm hm, y'caught me, luv. Called me out right in the beginning, y'did. They've upgraded me since then though, so now I'm Mr. Gutsy."

"With the things that come out of that mouth _most times, _I believe it."

"Still love it."

"That still remains to be actually _seen._"

Jokes. Bad jokes. Horribly timed jokes in the worst place ever. Or maybe it was the best place to joke in order to keep their sanity? Thirty minutes ago, she was resigned that he wouldn't smile. Fifteen minutes ago, he laughed. Now he was opening up a little, and even cracking his own jokes. Baby steps. But that wasn't the best part of this all.

_"I've been askin' myself whether it's somethin' that the real Piper would do."_

Lips brushed over hers with the utmost of tenderness and adoration that she swore she would fall apart right then and there. She pushed back passionately, hand instinctively wrapping around his shoulder and searching his _chest_ until she grabbed hold of a certain bullet on a necklace. Relief overwhelmed her and slammed her like a tidal wave when she realized what Garrett was really trying to say - even if he may not necessarily have meant to, or been aware of it.

_"But you would."_

Words were never his thing. Action was.

And he made sure she heard his message _loud and clear_ when he carried her back to the shower, giggling like a madwoman.

**x - x - x**

Leo burned holes in the back of Adam's head as they strode through the cylindrical hallway, and Leo looked out the glass to peer down at the facility. His legs actually listened to him when he wanted to stop and study, and he came up as palmed the glass, curious to feel the sensation of it. It was cool and... _Clean._ It didn't feel grimy at all, and he took his hand off at a sharp: "_tsk._ Now I'll have to be the one to file a report in to maintenance services for that."

Adam came up to his side and tried to wipe the hand print away with the sleeve of his coat, but only ended up smearing it even more. He sighed, but was remarkably quiet for someone - that Leo _expected_ from the deepest recesses of his gut - that should have regaled some sort of tale or dramatically lamented how his time was worth so much more, and then insert more crazy ass science bullshit.

Instead Adam stared out the window, and he reached up to the glass to leave a hand print beside Leo's.

"I used to do this when I was young. _So many people _to compete against. So many fake people, too. It was easy to get lost in the tide, to never be noticed - even by my own parents. Work was always more important." He left another hand print. "So I did this." Another. "I'd leave a trail." Another. "I'd mark up this entire glass, because then, maybe, just _maybe,_ I would be noticed for at least a second."

Honestly, Leo didn't care. He couldn't. He had _zero fucks_ left to give especially for this man, and he hadn't felt the remotest of sympathy. If only he had a voice to declare as such so that this freak would stop having fucked up ideas about him.

"But then I was punished for being noticed, and then I was forced to file a report. Every time I did it thereafter, the only ones that noticed me were the _fucking_ robots to clean this. I was mocked by other kids, and you know what my parents had to say about it all? _Nothing,_ because I was raised by a synth. Any time the teacher made me stand in front of father to present something, he'd just stare, questioning and ripping apart my ideas instead of supporting them."

_Boo fucking hoo._

"I'd just get that look, you know? That 'do better' look. It was the only look I ever got, growing up. But now..." He turned to Leo, and there was that terrifying glint in his eyes again. "Now he told me he's proud of me. 30 years late, but he said it. I _knew_ he would, of course - you can only deny the truth for so long. But for once, all my sacrifices, all my theories, all my work... He didn't rip it apart nor belittle it. He saw the truth, the evidence. He saw just how much more _superior_ you are than those defected robots, and how efficient and powerful you'll be with half the time in training than the coursers. He saw that I'm _better than him, _that I've finally surpassed him and his contributions; and I did it with _my_ brain and _my_ hands, not just donate some DNA and cater to peoples' poor hurt feelings, compromising instead of advancing. Soon Cybernetics will be revived again, and I'll have even more tools at my disposal to help you."

_Help?_ Was that how he viewed all the shit he's done to Leo? _Seriously?_ Just how delusional could someone be? How fucked up was the dad to not see it? Maybe that's why his dad didn't want nothing to do with him. This freak was lucky he wasn't just shipped off to the surface to fend for himself.

He should've been.

Adam took out some sort of panel from his lab coat and turned Leo's metal arm up, pressing on the wrist until a _lid _popped open, exposing two little holes. A wire was pulled from the panel and connected to the arm, igniting the screen up to life. Adam began typing at rapid-fire speed then turned it over. Bright letters glared at Leo, all a jumbled mess. He looked away even when Adam tapped the screen. "Read this."

Leo shook his head.

"It's not a request. _Read it._"

A sigh, and he looked over, for what little good it would do. He tried to concentrate to at least pick out something familiar, but everything was upside down and in reverse. The brightness didn't help make sense of anything. He stared and counted to ten, then shrugged his shoulders, trying to focus on wiggling his metal fingers instead.

Adam scrutinized him with the _most_ uncharacteristic expression: sincerity. He turned off the screen with a look in his gaze that convinced Leo his eyes were malfunctioning. _Sympathy._ "As I suspected. You would give me that look like you want to kill me if you could actually _read_ what was on the screen. You appeared to write something on that reporter's hand, though. Are you dyslexic?"

Leo shrugged. How the hell was he supposed to answer this asshole otherwise? And what did dyslexic even mean?

"And what did you write on her hand?" Adam flipped the panel towards him, playing with it before he offered a blank screen to Leo. "Draw it on here."

_Don't do it._ That was all his mind screamed, but for some reason he was compelled to listen. He reached over and drew the letters.

"Hm... Oh-three-R," Adam mused quietly. "Ah, I see what you were trying to do." A small smile curled the corner of his mouth, and it was enough to get Leo's heart racing as he sweat and _panicked_ as to what in the hell this freak was going to do to him now as punishment. The screen shut off and the panel was disconnected, slipping back into the lab coat's pocket - the right one, immediately engraved to memory. Adam folded his arms behind him and strode down the hallway, but not before leaving one more hand print on the glass.

Leo wanted to scream.

"You were just trying to be noticed."

**x - x - x**

Luki spread his belongings on the bed, inspecting every single one that had been 'graciously' returned to him as what he regarded as a superficial gesture of faith. He glanced over at the duffel bag they gave him and pulled it closer, running his hands along the canvas fabric to see if he could somehow feel that something was off.

Everything was as it was should be, and it only amplified his doubt.

Every movement brought with it an inordinate amount of clanking from the two holotags he wore, and he glanced down, untangling them so that he could bring the cross to his lips and kiss it. The road before him was shrouded in darkness, but he had faith that it would all become clear when it was meant to be. He _had_ to have faith, because the alternative was terrifying. The Brotherhood's survival and the Institute's destruction rode on his shoulders - _if_ that was even possible.

Faith. It wavered, and so he fell back on his trust in Sarah. He couldn't help but wonder if he was just putting her on a pedestal though, shoving all the responsibility in her hands to find answers where none may necessarily have been found... But no matter how dire the circumstance, she always came back with a plan for him, and a plan was all he wanted.

Lord knew he couldn't grab hold and command his fate the way she could.

Beeps alerted him, and he began to fold his clothes to stuff in his duffel bag just in case if they watched from the cameras and wondered what in the world was taking so long. He glanced over at the sound of knocks, instantaneously smiling at the sight of Sarah. It ranked up top to be just about one of _the_ hardest struggles of his life to not jump her and kiss her senseless for her subtle gesture with the holotags.

"Getting ready for your mission, huh? Need some help?"

Whether he'd answer or not was clearly not her priority as she came over and actually began to _fold._ She never folded. Her definition of folding was to bunch it up in a ball and throw it in - ironic that such a messy habit came from one of the most disciplined persons he'd ever come to know; but he had conceded that it was the faster way, during their playful debate - that she won - when she declared mutants wouldn't care if her shirt was wrinkled.

If they did, then she'd just shoot at them some more.

"Nervous, Paladin?"

Luki tried not to stare and analyze so much, playing it casual as he paid particular attention as to where her eyes were going. Now, he wasn't as precise and intuitive as her, but even the most obtuse would be able to spot the inordinate amount of attempts taken at his _chest - _where, conveniently and suspiciously enough, his holotags resided.

Uh huh. He was beginning to sense a pattern here.

"I am," he confessed. "Not so much about the mission, but about who I might see again. It's been a long time."

"Too long," she hummed, pressing her palm down on a sleeve as she creased it outwards to be nice and flat, ridding the wrinkles. "You're not nervous about lying to them?"

"Well, when you put it that way... That too. I'm hoping I won't _have _to if they don't ask too many questions."

Another shot at his holotags, and he sucked in the flesh of his cheek as he bit down - **hard **\- to stifle his smile. Her innocent tone didn't fool him. "What sorts of questions?"

"Oh, you know..." He left it up in the air, pretending to hide behind the guise that they had to mind their words. When he looked up at her, his resolve was nearly shattered by the way her eyebrow was hiked up, screaming _'really?' _all over her face. The deathly glower brought it home, and he chuckled when he propped a hand on the corner of the bed and leaned as far as he could to reach her, lips puckered.

"Nope."

"Don't be like that," he sniggered, exaggerating the way he puckered his lips even more. She rolled her eyes with a sigh.

"I'm not enabling this behavior, Paladin."

"Yeah, but I know you want to."

"You're about to be sucker-punched in the kisser. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Fine. He'd just take matters into his own hands, then. He walked over and framed her jaw, capturing her lips - and the smile that grew in their kiss - as he turned them, muscling her back until her legs hit the edge of the bed. He hooked his foot behind her ankle and swiped up, holding on to her hips to soften the fall - only she had balanced and bent back even on one leg, loosely hooking her arms around his shoulders as she broke the kiss with a smug smirk.

"Just fall on the damn bed," he grumbled as he pushed into her hips with his, trying to hook his foot on her other ankle. Even when he swiped that leg, the other had ample time to plant back down on the ground. "Why do you always have to make everything so difficult?" He whined against her lips, smiling when her chuckles reverberated deep in her chest.

He fell apart when her finger hooked on their holotags.

"Nothing less than what you deserve for playing stupid with me," she rasped in between kisses. "Do you honestly think I came here to help _fold?_"

"Well, that, and because you missed my charming company." Luki laughed when knuckles drilled into his ribs - his _burned_ side, and he hadn't minded his weight, effectively pushing her and making them fall on the bed. He hissed when teeth latched on his ear lobe, and a tiny hand squished in between their hips. Hope flared when he could feel his zipper wiggled down. He shuddered when her voice dropped deliciously low and gritty, husking by his ear.

"The only kind of cockiness I'll allow, Paladin, is the kind that involves our birthday suits. But since we're not in them..."

Then she was going to fix that by undressing them, right? It was the next logical step, after all, and she must have seen the value in that.

She somehow _bizarrely _saw merit in zipping his pants back up instead.

Sarah wriggled out from beneath him, and he buried his face - when he should have been buried in _her _\- into the bed as he tried to choke down the urge to **scream.** Once again he had intel wedged inside, and he could feel the mattress dip beside him. He lifted his head _just_ enough to glance out to the side, coming face to face with the devil as she propped herself up on her elbow. She patted his back with the most deceivingly sweet smile ever to behold. Lies. All _lies._ He was fully convinced she didn't possess the capability to _sincerely_ make that smile, even if the fate of the world depended on it.

"Good luck on your mission, Paladin Lyons."

And she disappeared.

She _fucking..._

"_Fuck._" Luki flopped miserably on the bed. "Somebody save me..."

He was beginning to sense a pattern here.


	16. Hidden Agenda

_**[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE**__**]  
Chapter 16: Hidden Agenda**_

* * *

"Hey, if Queen Guinevere cheats on King Arthur in the books, do you think the author chose Sir Lancelot on purpose?"

Piper lifted her head off Garrett's chest and propped up on her elbows alongside his ribs, arching her brow at him. "What do you mean? And where did this even come from?" They went from intense lovemaking to the point she was more worried if she could _stand_ properly - forget walking - to wondering what their next move would be, to relaxing for the first time in who knew how long, to...

_...This?_

What was almost as baffling was that she was even still seriously considering Garrett's random question. Seriously. _This_ guy? "I mean technically if the author wrote the whole affair then... Yeah, he kind of would _have _to choose Sir Lancelot on purpose. I don't think you can accidentally write stuff. Well, I guess there's typos and stuff and-"

Chuckles cut her short. She was suddenly slammed with a _very_ bad feeling about this all and she narrowed her eyes at Garrett, who was visibly struggling to contain himself as he chewed his lip and closed his eyes. She slithered up his body and made sure to punish him by dragging her pelvis against his, feeling _that_ twitch to life - but he knew well that would be the extent of their next round. How sad was it that he was more focused on his bad joke? She must have been doing something wrong if he was still chatty, but she was confident she'd get him to _snap. _

Eventually.

"No, luv... Think about it for a minute."

"I am, and I'm even asking myself why I'm actually thinking about _your_ question. I'm starting to get the feeling I should punch you before your punchline."

Garrett beamed a grin and opened his eyes as he looked down at her, gaze flickering to and fro as he gently pushed her down by her shoulders so that her breasts were pressed to his chest. After all they had just done, she was finding it a little hard to care anymore since it was _definitely_ a thousand times way too late, and she smirked when she resisted, flaring annoyance in the gunmetal orbs as he growled. "I don't want 'em to get a free show."

"I think we're well past that point, Garrett. Or are you doing this to make sure my punch won't hurt as much if I'm glued to you?"

"That too. I'm sore enough."

"That's coming from you after everything you did to me?" The blurt brought warmth surging to her cheeks, and instinct almost damned her when she leaned into the hand that reached to scoop her hair behind her ear. She had playfully snapped at his fingers when they traced down her cheek, biting them. His chest kicked against hers when he inhaled sharply, a sinful glint glazing his eyes.

Jesus Christ, they were worse than animals.

"You love it," he grinned wolfishly. "If it's any consolation, and insert some more fancy words here to get y'off-"

"C'mon, Garrett! Why do you still think that?"

"Well. You're a weirdo." He planted a sweet kiss on her nose despite the deathly glare. She was well past the point of wondering how _this_ guy was calling her weird. "But you're **my** grand weirdo. Anyways, so fancy words to get y'off and shite..." He would never stop teasing her, would he? It was as if it was ingrained in his instincts, and his grin only grew bigger. "King Arthur's sore too. _But!_" His arm slithered around the small of her back, fingers spreading over her spine as he pushed her into him. She yelped when he suddenly rolled them until she was on the bottom, and she shuddered when teeth found sensitive _unmarked_ spots on her body - with what little unblemished skin was left. She stood corrected about the hand print bruises.

"Garrett," she groaned, "give me a break before _you_ break me."

"I can't help it, luv. _Help me._" Garrett trailed up to her neck, and her hands wove into his hair, clutching tightly as his beard grazed her jawline. Breaths shuddered out of her when a calloused hand clutched her ribs, thumb running under the curve of her breast. It took her mind back to when they were kidnapped, and he teased her - she was now convinced it was on _purpose _rather than the accident he played it off as - before he injected the stimpak in her ribs.

"We've come a long way," she blurted, sliding her hand over his to pin it to her ribs. She angled her head and nudged him out her neck until he came up to look at her. Purple sagged underneath his eyes, and they still looked tortured - but they weren't _dead_ anymore. Baby steps. She smiled as she looked down, forcing her gaze to move on from _King Arthur_ and on to his thigh, coming up to a half-sit to reach for the thick ghastly scar where the drill tore through. "It's crazy... All this time, and I still can't believe you did this." She tenderly massaged the scar, listening to his breaths as his mouth anchored to her temple. "I still can't believe you call yourself selfish."

"'Cause I am," he mumbled, his thumb swiping to and fro over her ribs as if it was the tick-tock of the clock. "I just do nice things for you to trick you to like me back."

Leo's voice echoed in her memories, and she closed her eyes, trying to keep him out of her mind. His face still wriggled in as he tapped the side of his head.

_"Most girls like you wouldn't give a guy like that the time of day. The Sarge must've been treating you real nice to trick you into believing that he isn't an asshole."_

_"No tricks, he's definitely an asshole. He's a demon. He's a devil. He's a doll."_

Hums buzzed in her throat in a desperate bid to pull her back to _here _with Garrett, before she fell off and remembered... Darker moments. And in those dark moments, Garrett came and still did his best to bring light, despite his mission to kidnap her. She smirked as she laid back down, gazing into his eyes. "Is it really so hard to believe that you're a good man? Do you really think I've fallen for the 'bad boy' act and nothing but, Garrett?" She let go of his hand and slid both her thumbs over his lips to shush him so that he could _think_ and not just _fire. _"You always called me the 'badass lass with a good heart.' Don't you think the same could be true for you too?"

Garrett just stared, and stared, and _stared._ She was about to comment about being left hanging, until he snuck under her jaw again and buried his face in the crook of her neck and shoulder. "Did you think about Lancelot, luv?"

"_What?_ Where-"

"I think the author chose him cause he lances a lot, if y'know what I mean."

Fists drilled into his obliques and his laughter buzzed in her skin. She flushed hot, jaw agape in shock - but really, was she _really_ shocked? She really shouldn't have been.

"Why do you always have to ruin it? We were having a moment, Garrett!"

God, what a harrowing and _depressing_ realization to say the exact same words again. She had a feeling this wasn't going to be the last time she ever would, and she also had a feeling that the timing of all this was far too convenient. He was stalling and distracting, wasn't he? To hide his answer?

"I'm pretty good at understandin' the way writers think, don'tcha think?" There was something both mortifying and arousing just with the way his voice dropped, grinding and gravelly. It made her think of a storm at a rocky beach, waves crashing into the boulders. His hand burned down her side, and she gasped when it snuck under, squeezing her rump roughly. "You'd know from personal experience... You can't pretend that yer innocent no more, luv, if you got what I meant right away. Tainted you, I have. Turned ya into a sinner like me."

"D-don't change the subject, I know that's why you're doing all of this."

"I ain't changin' it," he argued with an infuriatingly playful lilt; but all she could focus on was his hand as it slipped between her legs, rubbing circles. "I'm proving your point."

"_Which one?_" Piper squirmed and her head lulled back on the bed, hissing when teeth scraped one of the most sore spots on her neck. She grabbed the bullet that dangled in the air and twisted the chain in her hand to force Garrett to stop, but he kept going away with that bloody smug smirk of his; it was as if his face was screaming that he _knew_ she wouldn't, daring her to try and break the chain.

God dammit, she wouldn't, and it pissed her off that he was right. Not for long.

"That maybe it _could_ be true that I'm just a badass lad with a good heart, but it's not true, luv. And I wanna keep it that way; I like the thought of us balancing each other out. You're the angel and I'm the devil." He grabbed under her knee and pinned it up to her side, prodding and teasing her entrance by just thrusting with just the tip of him. She wasn't in any mood for games. She yanked on the chain even harder until it forced him down low enough for her to capture his lips. His smile never left. He kept taunting mercilessly, stoking the flames in the pits of her belly, and it frustrated her that they knew they _couldn't _with how sore they both were.

It didn't stop her from becoming more forceful, and she twisted the chain until it was damn near digging into his neck, then wrapped her arm around his shoulder and tried to throw him off balance from the leg he held up at her side. It took a few tries, enough time for awkwardness to settle in when he stopped and watched her with this confused look on his face.

He sure bloody well got it when she narrowed her eyes at him, and it was suddenly ridiculously easy to make him flop on his side - like a stupid fish.

Ugh.

This _man._

"I'm not an angel, Garrett." She claimed his thighs as her throne as she sat on them, running her hands up the ridges of his abdomen. His eyes grew darker, _hungrier, _and she smirked as she taunted him back, rubbing the tip of his penis with just her fingertip. "Not anymore. I think you can agree on that now."

"Everyone's got a naughty side. Meant to - what do we have our bits for, otherwise?"

"Um... To pee and procreate?" Her smirk grew when he rolled his eyes. "Ever think about that?"

"Well if you're so smart then why can we feel good down there too, huh? Seems to me it ain't _necessary_ if it was just for those two reasons."

"Are we really going to delve into the philosophy of this? Like right now?"

"I'll cut you a deal. We won't and then we can still get down an' _dirty _again if y'just admit you're still my Angel."

"Are you serio-"

"Deal is off if you don't."

"But the..." She glanced down with where she was sitting, and where her fingertip rested. "Can we just address the irony here?"

"Nope." He sat up, making the muscles in his core ripple and _distract _her as he framed her jaw. "Look at me, luv, I don't wanna lose you now. Let's be serious about this." _This_ guy was asking to be serious about _this?_ "I know how hard it is for y'to not 'address the irony' or point out how I'm provin' your point and it's counterproductive and blah blah blah. There. Have I satisfied ya by gettin' it all out your system _for_ you?"

That was so accurate, it was scary.

_But._

"No not even close, Garrett. I wanted to be the one who did."

For some reason, the way he grinned now was absolutely dreadful and terrifying. She didn't hesitate to punch him before his punchline this time.

"_Gotcha._ Y'proved me right, this time. Told ya y'get off on fancy words."

Piper kicked him out of the bed.

**x - x - x**

Garnet swallowed her growl and sucked in a deep breath when her daughter jumped on the bed and landed on her bad leg. Her fingers gnarled in the sheets and she forced a smile when Rose crawled up to her face, lips puckered for an exaggerated kiss on the mouth. "Top of the mornin' to my favorite mum in the whole wide world!"

"Uh, I'm your only mum, Rose."

"Uh huh. Yeah." Wow. So much love from this child. "Now can we _please_ go out to eat breakfast?"

"Good morning to you too, sweetie," Garnet sighed as her head lulled back and hit the pillow with a soft thud. She grimaced when Rose shifted, and sought out to gently push her daughter off as she sat up. She didn't have to open her eyes and actually _check_ for the truth when she asked: "are you clothed and ready?"

"Yup!"

"Nope. Try again after you go put your pants on." Garnet peered one eye open and smirked when Rose giggled as she rolled right off the bed, arms flailing out dramatically as she ran about in the room. How she had so much energy was _beyond_ Garnet, but it always made for a great distraction as she pushed past aches and pains of a body that was no stranger to broken bones and open wounds.

"I don't wanna wear pants!" Rose argued - just like _every_ bloody morning of _every_ bloody day. Of course she didn't want to wear pants. Why would she? "I'm _boiling._" It didn't matter what temperature it was, she was always boiling nowadays. Sometimes Garnet regretted the things she taught Rose, and synonyms like this definitely took a chunk of her regret with how much more _exaggeration_ Rose put in her excuses. If only she put a fraction of that effort into listening.

"That's because I've heated _inside_ this apartment, honey, but what I haven't done is heat the rest of the _world._ Now put your pants on or we're having chalky bars for breakfast instead." Garnet smiled when theatrical groans chased out after her daughter as she ran to the living room. She could stall all she wanted - she was not going to win no matter how many times they had to negotiate this bloody simple thing; despite the hardships and constant battles with the basic necessities just to make sure the child actually _survives_ the day, Garnet never regretted a single moment of it.

Chills chased her feet as they met the tiled floor. She leaned over and reached for her pants, sitting on the bed as she wrestled them in one leg at a time. She strapped on her brace over her knee and stared at the cane against her nightstand. She refused to use it; she's suffered worse in her life, and she didn't want the other kids picking on Rose just because her mum was crippled.

It was enough that they had just because they were 'filthy' wastelanders.

"Rose~" Garnet picked up her daughter's pants from the floor and waved it out to unfold it's legs, hobbling over into the living room. "Just come-" she stopped, adrenaline surging through her as she narrowed her eyes at two men sitting on the couch. The one she'd come to know - Adam - had the nerve to play with her child, and she clipped sternly. "Rose, come to me right now."

"Aw, but-"

"**Right. Now.**" She protectively shielded her daughter and nudged her towards the bedroom, angling her head to speak over her shoulder - though she never took her eyes off Adam. "Go into the bedroom and don't come out until I say so." She twisted and looked over to make sure her eyes silenced any protest before it bore fruit, and she pushed the pants into Rose's hands. "Brush your teeth and-"

"Put my pants on," Rose grumbled sullenly, though the guilt-tripping sulk had lost it's power long ago.

Garnet pressed the button for the bedroom door to slide shut, then crossed her arms as she glowered at Adam. The... _'Man' _that sat beside the scientist was unnerving to look at with his scars and mechanical parts. She shuddered to think what in the hell happened to him, and wondered if this was yet another passive-aggressive warning that this wretched scientist gave her. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Good morning to you too, Ms. Butler!" Adam clapped cheerfully; that kind of perkiness should be _shot_ in the morning.

She made a mental note to ask her brother what was taking so long.

"As you well know," Adam made a grand gesture as his palm slapped over his chest, his nose turning up. A routine unwillingly engraved in her brain. "I'm your brother's handler-"

"Cut to the chase, or my daughter will starve to death by the time you finish stroking your ego." Garnet's gaze caught the subtle smirk from the mechanical man.

"Have a seat, then. I have _devastating _news-" and yet Adam sounded cheerful. How many times did he rehearse 'devastating'? "-and you have a decision to make as a result of it."

That wasn't any more ominous than the scientist popping in here with no regard for their privacy. Garnet limped over to the couch and sat across from them, keeping a wary eye on the mechanical man when she noticed how he seemed very uncomfortable, and every muscle in her body tensed. Nervous men never bode well for her. She blew the last one's guts out for it. When Adam leaned forward, hand reaching towards her knee, she smacked it aside.

"My oh my, we're touchy, aren't we? Touchy about not being touchy." Adam laughed at his own 'joke'. "I only wish to extend comfort."

"I don't need it, especially from you. Try to touch me again and you'll learn what it's like to have crows picking at your rotten guts."

Adam held his hands up in surrender, but his sleazy snake-like smile never faded. She wanted to wipe it off his face and her fingers gnarled into her pants to stop herself from launching at his throat. Rose couldn't afford to lose her right now - especially if Garrett didn't show up last night. "Well, then, moving on. Mr. Butler has been denied permission for further visitations due to concerns for you and your daughter's safety."

_Bullshit._ Garnet bit her tongue. "Is this a permanent decision you've made?"

"Not me personally, but the Director. Mr. Butler is being monitored to evaluate whether or not he will be stable enough to return."

**_Bullshit._** Garnet bit her tongue harder. "And what's the decision I have to make?"

"Whether or not you wish to see him, so long as you have a qualified guard to protect you." Adam gestured to the mechanical man, and though it was impossible to figure out anything through cold synthetic eyes, he did plenty of other things that screamed his anxiety was mounting. His hands twisted more and more into his slacks as Adam kept droning on. "You can visit him in his apartment right now, though as a precaution, the Director urges for Rose to be at school when you do."

"And leave her _alone_ in school?"

"She won't be alone, she'll be with all the others as she always has. She just won't be with you specifically."

One thing Garnet learned quickly was that the people here did not do anything without purpose. They gained _something_ whether she did go through with seeing her brother or not, but the trouble was trying to figure out what they gained most - and take that away from them. She didn't at all trust them to watch over Rose without her around, but neither did she trust what they'd tell Garrett to mess with him, just as how they were trying to now with this apparent instability of his. They both survived far worse confinement and paranoia than this facility.

"I'm fine with waiting until he's cleared and considered safe for both Rose and myself to see him again." Garnet glanced at the mechanical man, trying to focus on his eyes and not all the scars that marred his face. "I didn't see you last time. What's your name? Are they punishing you by making you follow this man around?"

Adam chuckled. "Such hostility! 3-0 is _delighted_ to work with me."

The look '3-0' made - exaggerating eyebrows to furrow to express _something - _was a very clear suggestion otherwise, and it sparked a connection, a meager amount of trust; the enemy of her enemy was her friend, if this man was Adam's enemy at all. 3-0 held out his metal hand towards her and tapped his palm. She wasn't sure what it meant and was confused to see him try to draw things on his real hand, while stealing sideways glances at the grinning scientist as if uncertain. Why was this being allowed? Adam's complacency must have either been due to extreme arrogance or having some sort of agenda of his own.

Garnet turned her palm upside down and snuck her thumb inside, recreating what she saw in hopes to figure out what 3-0 was trying to say. None of it made sense. She drew an O, 3 and r, and it was all the mechanical man did over and over again, his forehead creasing as those cold eyes stared at her. There was no emotion to decipher, but there was a sense of urgency every time he kept drawing the letters over and over again.

"He can't talk," Adam helpfully supplied.

"I gathered that," Garnet snapped, never taking her eyes off of 3-0. "So you're his mouthpiece. I can't imagine a worse fate."

Laughter filled the room, but it sounded so stale and closed off. The moment Adam's eyes closed and his head lulled back, 3-0 nodded _furiously._ She pitied him; he was trapped and he didn't even have a way to communicate with anyone except through gestures. There was something about him that called out at her, and she ignored the scientist's scrutinizing gaze as she leaned forward and held out her palm towards 3-0.

"My name is Garnet." She spelled the names on her hand, watching him closely. "My daughter's name is Rose."

Silence fell on them, and 3-0 looked up at her. He tentatively reached to draw what she assumed was her daughter's name, and discovered something peculiar: it was spelled upside down. She smiled when he seemed to stare expectantly, nodding to acknowledge when he tried to spell it again. "Mm-hm, you've got it."

"Are you sure?" Adam clearly couldn't keep himself contained, but that irritating perkiness only masked the way he observed them intently. "I think you're too kind, Garnet."

"Even raiders are kind compared to you," she spat. She kept her discovery to herself, hoping she would have a moment alone with this man someday. "And don't use my name."

"Double standards now, really? You allow a complete stranger permission, but not me? Are you biased towards 3-0 because of the Mr. Handy robot in your homestead?"

"Don't psychoanalyze me." Her gaze cut into the scientist, narrowing her eyes. "And stop studying us, we're not lab rats."

"I don't have to study you when you're writing a book for me," Adam countered as he leaned back on the couch, crossing his leg over the other as he folded his hands in his lap. His smile slithered wider. "Forgive me for my persistence; I just find wastelanders remarkably interesting. If we overlook the filth and lack of education, it's amusing to investigate what makes each one of you unique, despite not being in possession of intelligence or ambition."

"Lack of education? Maybe we don't specialize in technology, but that doesn't mean we're _stupid._ I've always educated Rose and your curriculum here is barely worth anything in life."

"You think _yours _is superior to the Institute's? Don't make me laugh!" Adam balked, and then he laughed anyways. Her patience was whittling down every time he did. "In the Institute, science is, by and large, pretty much the only field to pursue in order to have a meaningful life and to advance the evolution of humanity. On the surface, anything goes, even if it's as meaningless as proclaiming oneself as a 'reporter' in an age where circulating news is obsolete and accomplishes nothing. How your brother fancies that barbarian of a woman is beyond fathoming the appeal or the logic."

Something about the way 3-0 reacted unsettled her, as the mechanical man's head swiveled to Adam and appeared even more anxious than before. It didn't seem to escape the scientist's notice when he glanced over and smiled, patting 3-0's knee. "Oh, I know you're uncomfortable. We're finished now. I can see that _Garnet_ is not well-suited to entertain guests in the morning." His gaze panned back to her with that stupid smug smirk. "We should continue this debate at a later date; it's a one-sided battle for me to talk with someone who isn't armed with wit."

Garnet didn't bite the bait, nor had it riled her; she'd heard worse all her life, though she was still burning with her pride poked over the subject on education. There wasn't a day she stopped reading all the books scavenged from the small bookstore Garrett stumbled on, just so that she could pass on as much practical knowledge as possible so that Rose would have the best shot in life to be more than just a brute that needed to rely on guns rather than brains.

Adam rose from the couch, though 3-0 remained obstinate even when the scientist moved for the door, urging for him to follow. He tapped his palm, and on a limb, she offered hers even when her gut screamed not to. She almost recoiled when his metal finger traced the letters on her palm. First it was her name, then Rose, then what she figured was his. The last one didn't make sense to her. He smiled a _broken_ smile, reluctant to leave, but did the moment Adam clicked his tongue off the roof of his mouth, then bid her a farewell drenched in sarcasm.

"I hope you have a _fabulous_ day, Garnet."

Great, he was going to use her name on purpose just to irritate her now. She should've known better than to have reacted the way she did. When 3-0 and Adam left, she fell on the couch with a sigh and buried her head in her hands. It wasn't long before she heard a door slide open and feet pitter patter towards her. Her composure was threatened when little arms slipped around her neck.

"Mum, are you alright? Why weren't you and Adam nice to each other?"

"I'm alright, and I'm sorry you had to hear all that nonsense, sweetie," she mumbled. "Mommy doesn't like Adam, and I don't want you playing with him ever again. Okay?"

"Okay." Rose sounded sullen, tightening the embrace. "Hey, I didn't know you had a brother, mum. Is he here? Can I meet him?"

Dread sank it's fangs into Garnet and her heart stopped. She pulled away, staring, at a loss of what to say. For once, she was grateful that Rose _didn't_ listen to her. Yet.

"...Go put your pants on."

**x - x - x**

Beeps alerted Piper, and she hastily hid her notepad under her pillow as she rolled out of bed, wrestling her clothes on. She should've known better than to kick Garrett out into the living room. It was just a matter of time before the Institute would invade their privacy to spy on them and see what they were up to - or at least her, anyways.

"Oi, ain'tcha ever hear of _knocking?_" Garrett's complaint was heard from down the narrow hallway, and she melted with relief - somewhat - at what followed. "Just 'cause yer a robot don't mean y'can just bloody well kick down the door and-"

"You are cordially invited to the Institute's 29th annual Christmas party. Your evening attire will be provided. Do you accept?" The robotic voice sent chills down her spine, but she rushed down the hallway to see this for herself and decipher what in the hell was going on now. She saw the gen-1 synth at their doorway, and Garrett turned his head as he gaped at her, dumbfounded.

"Uh... You heard that, right luv? Or have I finally fuckin' lost it?"

"I don't think so, or we both have." Piper warily approached the synth, and even dared wave her hand in front of it's face. She bit back a yelp and Garrett dragged her a few paces back when it's head snapped to her. "Um, could you repeat that?"

"You are cordially invited to the Institute's 29th annual Christmas party. Your evening attire will be provided. Do you accept?"

Piper exchanged hesitant looks with Garrett. She had yet to find out just why in the world they were extended this invitation, but it _was_ her chance to explore the facility. She didn't give him the chance to say _'fuck no' _and insert more expletives - as every part of her screamed he would. She rushed a palm over his mouth, having a little slap fight with him as they each tried to swat the other's hand away.

"We accept!" Piper beamed, and Garrett groaned.

"Your response has been recorded," the synth replied. "Facilities will prepare and deliver outfits at 4 P.M. You will be escorted to the event at 5 P.M."

Metal joints creaked and hissed as the thing turned to exit. As soon as they were left alone, Piper sucked in a breath and steeled herself when Garrett glared at her. She turned away. "Don't give me that look. I know what I'm doing."

"They're tryin' to bribe us, luv. Y'know that too, right?"

"...Now I do." Piper smirked and head back down to the bedroom with the noisy man hot on her heels. "Was trying to figure out their angle, but that makes sense. I guess."

"You _guess?_ If you didn't know, then why th'hell didjya accept? I don't wanna go to this bloody thing!"

"Think about it, it'll be the perfect cover for me to interview people and dig up dirt, _especially_ once they all get liquored up to loosen their lips." She'd make sure of that.

"We're talkin' about eggheads here, Boss, not _normal_ people. Their idea of a party is prolly over fuckin'... Dissecting brains, or some shite. Who knows. I don't want to."

Piper rolled her eyes as she turned around, mindful to articulate her words precisely so that her lips could be read by any _invisible_ witnesses watching from behind Garrett's eyes. "It's a _Christmas_ party, Garrett. It'll be fun and it'll be a good chance for us to let loose, maybe get to know the people here. Not all of them can be bad, right?"

"They can. They will be. How do we even know if it's a party they're takin' us to? Wouldn't be the first time they've lied to us, yeah?"

Piper turned and pulled her shirt overhead as she walked for the shower. "Exactly. They're doing this because they believe they have the upper hand here, and they're underestimating us. So we play stupid, tag along, let them keep believing that we're eating up their every lie. The truth is hiding in between those lies, and I'm going to find it." She looked over her bare shoulder with a sultry smirk. "You joining me?"

Garrett stared, then marched after her. "Fine, but I ain't gonna be chummy with anyone but you."

"See? Doesn't this sound like a fun party already?" Piper grinned when he rolled his eyes, and she giggled like a madwoman when he lifted and carried her to the shower.

"Only to you. And you're about to make it up to me."


	17. The Butler Way

_**[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE**__**]  
Chapter 17: The Butler Way  
The warning we love - **general naughtiness as usual  
_

* * *

Gat playfully warred with mirror time as the two donned their outfits in the bathroom, and he leaned over to bop his mouth against the side of her head, watching her expression in the mirror. She rolled her eyes, and that wasn't enough to sate his mischievous tendencies - so he pretended to make gnawing sounds as he 'ate' her hair. It brought out smiles and chuckles, and she shoved him before her fingers twisted in his dress shirt, pulling him back for a passionate kiss.

"Careful, Angel," Gat broke the kiss and trailed them across her freckled cheekbone, nipping her earlobe as his hands tried to find a way _in_ with the dress in the way. "You're already havin' trouble standing, and those eggheads are gonna dissect ya if y'walk funny."

"Careful, Devil," Piper swatted his hand out of her dress when it rolled up her hip, and she laughed when he starting 'eating' her neck next. A gasp was slammed out her lungs when she hit the wall, contending with him for dominance as their hands _explored_ and tongues battled. "They're going to dissect how messy our clothes are before I even get to walk funny." She ducked out from underneath his arms and he twisted to face her, and a flame was stoked in the pits of his belly when her hand rested on his chest, playing with the buttons of his shirt. Then she pushed him against the wall with a sly smile before she turned back to the mirror to fix her dress.

Gat conformed to her back, both of them watching the other through the mirror. He languidly kissed her neck, never taking his gaze off of her. The wildfire spread from his fingers to his toes, and he tried to stay focused by counting inside his head as they stalled for time. Her arm slid up and over her shoulder to wrap behind his neck, and her little smirk - almost as if she was _daring_ and _taunting _someone other than him - made his job that much harder, and he let her know when he closed his eyes to murmur in safety.

"Remind me to never play games with you, 'cause yer a force to be reckoned with when y'play to win."

"I just want them to get a taste of their own medicine."

"_Exactly._ Medicine tastes like shite, luv."

"One more minute," she reminded, and it was so easy to hear the smirk in her voice. "And they should be bored out of their minds for watching the same old _routine._"

"Mm. Routine. I like the sound of that." Gat opened his eyes and continued to watch her through the mirror, burning underneath his suit as he studied how her dress hung to her frame. "Been seein' you outta clothes so much lately, it's almost just as big of a turn on to see you _in _them."

Piper snorted with laughter. "Whoa, there, charmer. Slow down before your compliments blow me away by how sweet they are." She glanced down almost with uncertainty, running her hands down the form-fitting dress as she smiled, though halfheartedly. He frowned when she took on a more dismissive tone. "It's just a dress, nothing special."

"What? You're gorgeous, luv." He quickly caught on that she didn't believe it when she thoroughly expressed it with her usual sarcastic roll of her eyes. He brought out the big guns as he embraced her in a tight bear hug until their cheeks pressed together, wringing another chaste chuckle from her as he exaggeratedly kissed her cheek. "You're so gorgeous you're makin' th'dress feel special."

It took a moment, a moment Piper seemed to try to suppress as her gaze fell from his, and her cheek warmed against him. Why she seemed embarrassed was beyond him, but then her lips tugged in a sweet smile, and it told him everything he needed to know even when her mouth opened with something else. "One more minute before we go..."

"I can work fast, luv, but not that fast. Y'know I like to take my time with you; one minute for one inch of skin." He made a show of his hands wandering - innocently at first, up and down her hips. She turned to face him and he still kept his gaze on the mirror, partly due to their charade, and the other part largely due to his curiosity. Her hair swung gracefully, almost reaching her shoulder blades. His free hand trailed up to bury in the tresses of it, watching how her back arched every time he leaned down to suckle and kiss what he'd learned were the more sensitive parts of her neck.

There were a few hickies that he was _sure _she'd seen in the mirror. He didn't know how to broach the topic of how she felt about going out in public with them; it wasn't particularly hard to guess that she'd likely feel mortified, and so wisely kept the question to himself so as not to stress her out.

Gat made a _show_ of unzipping her dress ever so slowly, and he shuddered when she rose on her toes, teeth grazing the shell of his ear. "_Close your eyes,_" she husked, "we don't have much time left. Whoever's escorting us will be here in twenty minutes..." A beat. Then the truth came out. "And I'm too sore to make this one _real._"

"To the bedroom, then. We can pretend to use my bowtie as a blindfold."

"Good thinking. Let's go." She grabbed his hand and dragged him with a sense of urgency, and he wished it _was_ real for her to take the lead as fiercely in bed as she did in life. At least she was rapidly building confidence with every round they had made real rather than an act for the cameras, so that they could mask their conversations without the Institute getting too nosy. That wish of his had grown exponentially when she circled him and shoved him hard enough to make him fall on the bed, and she straddled his lap as she handily pulled his bowtie right off, swinging it just in front of his eyes with that bloody damn smirk again.

As soon as he took the bowtie and tied it around his eyes, his heart cried outrage when her weight slipped right off as if there was _no_ hesitance whatsoever. His arms flopped on the bed and he tried to will himself to relax as he listened to her pace about in the apartment, murmuring what sounded like a list to prepare herself.

"Can I hide my notepad in your pants, Garrett?"

"How are y'gonna sneak notes in them? They'll get suspicious if they see you draggin' me off every five minutes."

"With all the 'proof' we've been giving them, are you sure they'll get suspicious?"

"Well, maybe whoever's watchin' the cameras nah, but I don't think _everyone_ at the party is just gonna magically know what we're like. They'll talk."

"So let them. I don't have any other place to hide them, anyways. My dress doesn't have pockets."

"How 'bout in between your tits?"

Silence fell, and he knew he was in _fatal_ danger when she sucked in a sharp inhale. He laughed nervously at her deadpan tone. "_Really,_ Garrett?"

"What? Just spittin' ideas. I dunno if they gave you your shite back, but they gave me my guns back. No bullets. Should be able to find a holster for the thigh though, and can hide the notepad in there."

"See? Why didn't you start with _that? _It sounded like it came to you a lot easier."

"Still think tits would be a more badass place to hide them."

"_Of course_ you do," Piper groaned, and he could almost _feel_ her rolling her eyes. "Men... You always make things so sexual."

"I'm the yin to yer yang." He grinned cheekily when there was another sharp inhale. "Y'know I love pushin' your buttons."

"I do," she sighed in resignation. "I know that _all~ _too well. Anyways, where's your bag with your guns?"

"Should be in the kitchen if nobody came in here and touched my shite. You'll find it no problem, promise."

"Uh... Alright..."

God, just the way she sounded so _afraid _already was the icing on the cake, and Gat grinned devilishly as his brain raced with all sorts of reactions, and none disappointed. He really hoped she _would_ react and not try to suppress it, depriving him of his entertainment as she sometimes did. She definitely did not fail to delight him when it sounded as if she hit something, followed be a quiet: _"ow."_

Within seconds, a gasp followed, and then an amusing yell. "What the heck is this?! It's like a gun graveyard here!" More ow's, and he slapped a hand over his mouth as he tried to stop himself from laughing when he caught her slewing curses about him under her breath. "What are you even doing with all this crap in here, Garrett?"

"Well, remember that time _looooong _ago when we went out drinking at the Dugout for the first time?"

Silence, and then a hesitant: "yeah... And?"

"Remember how we couldn't remember a single bloody thing the next morning?"

"Just get to the point already!" Uh huh. She did remember, didn't she? She sounded flustered already anyways.

"Remember how we went lookin' for your clothes 'cause y'stripped and stole my clothes since you wanted to see me naked?"

"That is **not** what happened." The deadpan tone was too much, and he could hear her returning to the living room. Soon enough he felt a presence loom over him.

"Why else would ya stash your shite in my bag and dump it in a lake? Y'wanted an excuse to see me naked all night long."

"We were both drunk! Who knows what the heck we were thinking." The bed dipped and his blindfold was lifted enough for him to get a peek of her warning look.

Gat grinned away, but he didn't press his luck any further. "Well, it's been that long since I was _supposed_ to clean my guns, and didn't. Prolly too late now, but better late than never. Plus it helps keep my mind offa the shite here and passes the time." He reached up and tugged the blindfold back down after making a show with his free hand of it slipping under her dress again, and she immediately sat back on his lap, _reminded _of their game of charades. She plucked his dress shirt out from his slacks and ran her hands underneath, fingers spreading over his stomach.

There was something about the way she touched him that seemed... Thoughtful, almost. Her wistful tone brought it home. "It's crazy how fast time flies... Some days it still feels like yesterday since we've met." A beat. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss those days."

"We can go back to 'the honest way' after all of this."

Piper sucked in a breath. Her hands slithered out, much to his dismay, but then weight gradually settled down until she fully laid on him, hair brushing under his chin. Moist lips snuck between his collar and pressed a chaste kiss to the base of his throat. "I think we have 'a long way' to go before all of that. And what about your debts?"

"Don't gotta pay no more. Institute cleaned up the whole company - not a single survivor, they said. Didn't even bother kidnapping them to do whatever they fuckin' do, and they coulda done it easily if they wanted to beef up their own military. Wouldn't be hard to make robots outta those arseholes." He wrapped his arms around her when she tensed. "Dunno if I believe th'Institute yet, but goes to show we're up against some serious firepower. If it was that easy to take out the trash, I'd've done it myself over time and pick off one a week or somethin'. Some'uv those arseholes were shootin' since the day they were fuckin' born, luv, even the gunners didn't want to do no business with them. Dunno how they lost."

"Quantity over quality, likely. Can't mass produce mercenaries the way you can with synths."

"Hm... Good thinkin'. People fatigue, robots don't. Send in the armada, sustained assault over night when most of 'em are just waking up."

"We can always investigate if we ever return to the surface. There's bound to be evidence like metal pieces or something; I doubt the Institute didn't suffer casualties, but..." Piper played with his collar, unbuttoning his shirt, drawing idle shapes on his chest. "What do they have to gain for it? You're right to wonder on why they eliminated the company and not take anybody to at least bolster their own forces, otherwise they've just lost resources and time to manufacture those synths. They could just be saying they didn't take anybody though, and they also could just be saying they eliminated the... What company was this, anyways?"

"Dunno if there's a name, but they were led by a guy named Drake. All I know is that they splintered off from the Talon Mercenary group; the Gunners ain't got nothin' on those sons of bitches. From the few dealings I've had, Drake was fucked in the head - y'could tell he was big on buffout." Gat sniggered, a lopsided smirk. "Didn't mean th'joke but now I do. But Gunners... Yeah they'll take on any job as long as the price was right, but we still had structure to reign in the loose cannons and punish 'em if they did anything that would hurt the Gunners' reputation and discourage people from hiring us."

"Like what?"

"Well, s'blunt, but nobody likes hirin' rapists and shite like that. We ain't torture or nothin' like that like raiders. We treat our prisoners well." A beat. He wasn't sure if he was right to joke about it now, for he felt something was _off_ and didn't want to risk taking off the blindfold if they were to pretend they were having a little fun. He choked down the joke about her experiencing it for herself, and stayed on point. "From the stories I heard, anything goes in the Talons, even among themselves. Most times they'd take it out on the women in any village they'd roll by though, and... Well... Y'prolly already know. We had a contract, and that didn't stop them or make 'em care 'cause they even tried a few times with my sis."

Piper sucked in a sharp breath. "They weren't actually... Successful... Right?"

"Nah." A wolfish smirk tugged his lips, chest puffing with pride. "The ones that knew better stayed away, and the ones that didn't had their balls blown off by her shotgun."

Nothing was said for a time, and he didn't press it. He wasn't sure how to broach the subject after Piper's... Near-experience herself... Gat wound her tighter in the embrace to try and squeeze the tension out of her. He was _numb_ to it all himself, and the dark prospect didn't seem to faze his sister anymore either. It shouldn't have been that way. This world was beyond fucked up that it was, that it was even considered a usual occurrence and that every woman's nightmare was likely to happen at least once in her life.

No way was that ever going to happen to Rose, not if he could help it.

"Your sister sounds lovely," Piper murmured, though the slight jest in her tone was overshadowed by the quiet sorrow. "And strong. I can't imagine what it's like..."

"Sure ya can. You're strong too. You both are, and you're both smart, and you both take no shite from nobody. You'd both get along, wish I could introduce ya to each other already, but I'm not allowed to see 'em anymore 'cause the shitwit Director thinks I'm too 'unstable' and unsafe. But, oh, sure, let's stick me in with you, no worries. Blows my mind how they think I'll just gobble this shite up."

"Well, they did want to keep tabs on me initially because he said he was concerned about my safety, so they still have to be here."

"What, like more than my eyes? Well if there are more cameras, then they prolly think we're into some real kinky shite if we keep pretendin' to have sex, then stop."

"I think we have worse problems than that, Garrett," Piper chuckled, then sighed dejectedly. The warmth and pressure dispersed as the weight of her hands dug into his chest a little more, and then she disappeared completely. "C'mon, whoever's escorting us should be here soon, so let's wait by the door. I've the holster strapped and my notepads hiding in there."

"Shouldn't we pretend to _finish_ as I take off my blindfold, Angel?" Gat couldn't help but smirk at the sound of her sharp breath, and then the faintest touch roved over his groin.

"What do you have in mind this time?"

"Well... I mean..." Would it be too much to ask for? Too forward? Too _embarrassing_ for her, and selfish for him? He'd be a liar if he said he hadn't wished to feel her mouth on him, even if it was just her tongue teasing the tip of his cock. His throat tightened when his zipper was tugged down, and the words suffocated as his body _burned. _King Arthur immediately twitched to life and stood at attention, and his breath shuddered out of him when gentle and cold fingers - cold in contrast to the wildfire she'd set ablaze on his skin - freed his girth from the strain of his briefs.

Hot breaths skirted over and his fingers gnarled the sheets in anticipation. It was easily one of the top hardest things to force out of his mouth when he whispered: "you don't have to if you don't want to, luv."

But please, for the love of god - if there was a god, _please_ want to someday if not today.

"It's only fair, you did it for me." Piper hummed, though there was a blatant meek tinge to her words despite the confidence of her hands. Well, they'd gotten more experience.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean-"

"I want to, Garrett."

Jesus. There _was_ a god.

Heaven felt like it was an inch away, judging from how much warmer the breaths were, and he could feel the pressure of her exhaling. He struggled not to buck his pelvis when she experimentally licked up along his shaft, and he slewed cusses under his breath when that was the end of that, and cool air clung to the moisture on his skin. He was just about ready to _fall_ _apart _if he had to wait a minute longer; and he had to, for far longer than a minute.

Beeps alerted them along with the telltale hissing of a door, and Piper panicked, squeaking in mortification at the sound of metal footsteps. "Don't come in here!"

Just kidding. No god, still.

"Voice detected. Scanning." A robotic voice chimed out into the living room, and Gat could almost _hear_ Piper's heart breaking as the footsteps clanked towards the bedroom, and the monotone words echoed hollowly. "Ms. Wright and Mr. Butler identified." How did they identify _him?_ He was still laying on the bed, wearing the blindfold.

He **had** to know.

"Did you just scan and identify me by my fucking cock?" Gat grimaced when a pointy heel _carefully_ pressed down on his foot as a warning, and he grumbled. "Message received, luv."

"Good evening," the synth greeted. "This unit is here to escort you to the Institute's 29th annual Christmas party. Is this satisfactory?"

Gat thumbed his blindfold up in a mixture of despair and _vengeance, _glaring at the synth in the bedroom without remorse. Yeah. This thing was going to be taken apart tonight, and Gat was going to use those parts for his guns. That was a nice little revenge fantasy. He didn't even care that King Arthur was still out in the open, silently begging for more _affection,_ and Piper threw an icy glare over her shoulder when he made no move to hide himself. She dragged the corner of the sheets up and threw it over his groin. His head flopped back in misery. "No, it's _not_ satisfactory. Fuck sake... I wonder if this is how disappointed women feel when they pretend to have an orgasm."

"Garrett... Don't you dare..."

Oh. He dared. It may have not been smart, and it may have lost the impactful appeal it used to have, but it was still _worth it._

"Seems like that ain't the truth you'll be finding out any time soon luv, now is it?"

He laughed when Piper kicked him in the shin.

**x - x - x**

This dress was more uncomfortable than the party itself. Piper faked laughter left and right as she chatted up with scientists, who's idea of a joke was something about science. Well, it wasn't really anything less than she expected, but it was doubly hard to keep elbowing the brooding man beside her so that he faked a laugh with her.

Every part of it came out as a blatantly sarcastic sneer.

Dim lights provided the perfect atmosphere to operate, and she was beyond relieved that the Institute actually knew what _alcohol_ was. It was absolutely unnerving to see gen-1 synths walking around everywhere though, balancing platters of wine and champagne glasses; there were even _bowties _on the synths.

Everything was picture-perfect, everyone was happy. The festive decorations and jazzy music almost made her forget what she was really here for - because it was _Christmas, _and it was the first holiday she'd get to spend with Garrett, and... The first holiday she'd miss with Nat. At that, Piper shut off. Her questions bore no creativity or insight, simply chatting up scientists in what fields they were in and what inspired them to get into it. It was nothing noteworthy to risk detection and try to find a spot to hide in while she jotted down all her notes and quotes.

Plants, real live green plants kept tempting her curiosity, along with the gorillas behind the massive glass pane. She'd wander aimlessly often, her mind unable to hold down a single train of thought. There was still so much to process and take in. It wasn't until Garrett's fingers intertwined with hers, squeezing hard enough provoke _pain,_ that snapped her out of it. She shot him an indignant look, only to be met by an annoyed one. "What're you doin' luv? Yer just lollygaggin' around here. Quit havin' a pissin' contest with 'em and _poke_ 'em with what y'actually wanna ask."

"I'm working on it."

"You've been workin' on it for the past hour, and we dunno how long this party is gonna last. _Work faster._"

"You _could_ help me, you know. You standing behind me and glaring at whoever I'm talking to is not helping them feel comfortable with me. They'll never open up."

"The heck y'want me to do? Offer 'em a strip tease?"

Piper's head lulled back as a frustrated groan tore from her throat. "Could you _please_ stop making everything about sex? I know it's your favorite joke, but it's losing it's charm."

Silence. She suspiciously looked at him, wary as to why he was just staring at her. Then he smiled. "That's a shocker. I never thought it was charmin' to you in the first place."

"_Ugh, _you're _impossible! _It's like it'd kill you to take anything seriously!" Piper ripped away from his hand and marched off, taking _two _glasses off from a synth that passed her by. She chugged down the wine and didn't care of the bulging eyes other scientists gave her; it wasn't long before she caught little chuckles and gasps about her, but she didn't care. She came here on a mission and instead it seemed Garrett had one of his own: to make her lose her sanity. She grabbed yet _another_ glass and sulked in the corner as she leaned against the glass pane, watching over the surprisingly thick crowd of scientists mingle with each other.

They all seemed so... _Normal. _They all enjoyed to drink and eat and gossip just like anybody in the Dugout or the Taphouse did. Those that got shamelessly drunk did silly things and said stupid things and joked about confusing things, and it all just seemed _human. _It wasn't anything like the picture she painted in her mind; and from her brief conversations, and observations, she came to the conclusion that what she was experiencing wasn't orchestrated - no matter how dearly she wished to believe it was.

Is this why she was invited to this event? She wagered Shaun had a hand in this, to go so far as to invite both her and Garrett so that they could see this for themselves.

Something caught her eye, and she noticed a familiar woman stride across the room. Piper pushed off from the wall, squinting, disbelieving when the woman's head turned to and fro as she glanced about the room herself. There was no mistaking Sarah, who looked as _out of place_ and _uncomfortable_ as ever as she insistently tugged at her dress. The poor soldier probably felt naked wearing that compared to a uniform and a suit of power armor.

Piper caught Garrett approaching her from the corner of her eye, and immediately moved to get lost in the crowd and get away from him before he irritated her _again._ She had a humble amount of liquor in her, and she couldn't afford to be distracted anymore herself. If she couldn't find out anything about the Institute, then the least she could do was find out if Sarah and Luki were _okay._

"Sarah!" She yelled as she waved her arm, and the flowing blonde hair whipped over as ice-blue eyes honed in on Piper. For some reason, there was... _Something_ flashing by Sarah's face that unsettled Piper, but she couldn't put her finger on it. A moment of sorrow tinged her before it was swept away with a forced smile.

"Good evening, Ms. Wright," Sarah greeted stiffly. "I didn't think I'd see you here."

"Yeah, they invited me and Garre - _Gat_ to this party." Piper thumbed over her shoulder, but she didn't look behind her to see if she could spot him. "I ditched him when he pissed me off, though. _Thank god _I found you." She leaned in close, perhaps a tad bit _too _close, according to the soldier that immediately wedged a respectable amount of distance between them. Piper couldn't exactly shout her 'nefarious' intentions of what she wanted to accomplish here though, and glanced around to see if there was a corner they could stow away in for at least a semi-private conversation.

"I can't say the same," Sarah stated bluntly, and that definitely dampened Piper's spirits. She arched her brow at the soldier and frowned, but shook her head and sighed.

"Forget it. Where's Luki? Are you two okay? The Institute hasn't been torturing you or anything like that, have they?"

"Why do you want to know?"

Piper rolled her eyes. How they were supposed to be considered 'mutually beneficial allies' with this kind of attitude was past the hope of comprehending. "It may come as a surprise to you, but I actually care about people and their wellbeing, you know. Plus... I want to find the truth about this place. I figured it'd be easier if we, you know, _work together, _rather than butt heads about it. Wouldn't the Brotherhood want to snuff out the Institute too?"

"You seem awfully quick to assume where our allegiance lies. How do I know you're not just another copy the Institute sent to trick me?"

"_This_ again?" Piper whined, actually praying for Garrett to show up so that he could at least vouch for her if nobody would believe her; but what reason did Sarah have to believe if he was human too? And, speaking of, what reason did Piper believe the soldier was 'real'? She caught Garrett's gaze as he weaved in between the bodies, and waved her arm for him to spot her. She knew she was in for it when anger ignited in his eyes, and decided to defuse it by _pretending_ she didn't see it as she turned back to Sarah.

"Look, I'm gonna do my own thing regardless. The Institute's full of smart people, so I doubt they'd be dumb enough to 'create' a synth that was going to expose them for what they really are. You can join me if you want, I don't really care. I just thought it'd be better if we collaborated and swapped the information we've got."

"There you are," Garrett growled by her ear. She turned to him and beamed a sweet smile in hopes it would be enough to appease and calm him down.

It didn't, but at least Sarah came to the rescue with her laser focus.

"How do you even plan to expose them when you're wasting time here? This party is as much of a show for _us_ as it is for all of these people here, tricking them that all is right with the world. We have to look in the places where the Institute doesn't want anyone to be. There is no way they can convince this many people to lie - all these scientists genuinely believe in what they do."

"Yeah, I gathered that much..." Piper glanced around the room as she observed the others, whom didn't even seem interested to _spy_ on her or anything of that sort. She looked up at the ceiling, but she couldn't spot anything that might be a camera. Her gaze tethered to Garrett's for a moment, and she followed his line of _glare, _which led straight to Sarah - whom shared the same look.

Why was there friction between these two?

Sarah inched closer to Piper, surprisingly leaning into her ear to murmur. "I found a room that's restricted to access, but we need a distraction so nobody sees us sneaking in there."

"Um... _We?_ So are we working together then or not?"

"For now. Hustle, civilian, we don't have any time to hold hands and giggle. Any ideas for a distraction? Can you cause one for me so I can slip in there?"

"What? If you're going, so am I." Piper crossed her arms and stood her ground even when the soldier snapped back with an icy stare. Piper shrugged. "I'm not budging. I guarantee you that there is nobody that wants to find the truth out more than me. If you want in on that room, then I'm following you whether we get a distraction or not."

"You'd sooner be an idiot and expose us just because-"

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Garrett interjected, still keeping his gaze everywhere but on them. "Quit circle jerkin' each other. It's not even hot."

Piper shot him a withering look that **vowed** pure agony for this later.

"I'll give ya yer bloody distraction." He took off his bowtie and unbuttoned his shirt, shoving the bowtie in Piper's hands as he gently pushed her by her shoulders. "Go."

"Garrett, what are you going to do?" A jolt of anxiety surged through Piper when he ignored her, and she rushed to tug on his arm, knowing he looked away because he _couldn't_ meet her gaze if they wanted to keep up their act. "What are you going to do?" She urged, concern building a lump in her throat. She shrugged off Sarah's hand when it tried to pull her away by her shoulder. "Don't get hurt, you hear me? I better see you again later."

"Course y'will, luv, I won't do anything stupid. I'm gonna show 'em what a _real _party looks like, and have fun the Butler way. They're about to get the offer of a lifetime." He beamed a charming grin and leaned down to steal a quick kiss on the lips. He slipped out of his jacket and put it around her shoulders, then slithered away towards the 'dance' floor where drunk scientists swayed and giggled with their wine spilling out their glasses. "Oi, it's time to get freaky in here, everybody! Fuck the mistletoes and grab a partner, give 'em a show like this!"

The Butler Way. The offer of a lifetime.

Why did she have the most ominous fucking feeling about this?

"C'mon," Sarah hissed, dragging Piper by the elbow when she couldn't tear her eyes away. "We've got to go or we'll be screwed after the initial shock wears off and people start looking around." They kept eyes on him as they crept away, and Piper's jaw slackened when Garrett stripped his shirt and swung it around above his head, yipping and...

_Yodeling._

For once, even the soldier stopped to watch, and her disciplined stoic expression was shattered by shock. "Ms. Wright... Is he actually...?"

"He is..." Piper lamented in despair when the shirt was abandoned, and soon _pants_ were swinging about in the air. "He's actually fucking stripping. I am going to **KILL** him."

What happened to not doing anything stupid?!

"At least we don't have to worry about the shock wearing off," Sarah mumbled as if she was caught in some sort of trance. It better be one of _disbelief._

Piper's murderous look was enough to remind the soldier of their mission.


	18. When Paranoia Kills

_**[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE**__**]  
Chapter 18: When Paranoia Kills  
Warning - **insinuated character death_

* * *

Leo didn't understand what in the fucking world was supposed to happen anymore. First he found out that he was supposed to guard Piper, but apparently that would be a waste of whatever 'talent' or power or _whatever_ he was supposed to have - so then he was supposed to sneak, or fight, or _who knew what_ with some sort of mutant.

Now he was sitting on a couch, watching Adam preen himself in the mirror.

Worst of all, Leo still didn't get a voice. He looked down, numb as he wiggled his metal fingers; after everything that happened to him so far, not getting a voice was something he now expected and resigned to. That was fine. He still had two working middle fingers to communicate, and hopefully he would get his revolvers back to handle the rest. It was a shame he wouldn't put them to the test on Adam's corpse.

What was with this sitting and waiting though? There was no keeping up with this man or trying to figure out what fucking nightmare he'd bring down upon Leo next - and the more Leo tested his boundaries as to what he could get away with, the more he wondered _why_ he was allowed as much as he could.

Adam had to have wanted him to. The fucked up scientist was the _definition _of a control freak, so there was something in this for him.

_Ugh..._ Thinking and putting the pieces together was never Leo's strong suit. That was Luki's.

Pangs gripped Leo and his gaze panned to the floor, growing distant as he lost himself in his memories. It was his only solace left, the only way to retain his sanity and what little was left of _him__, _to make sure the Institute didn't take that and win another robot. Maybe that's why he was forced to follow Adam around everywhere, to break his soul and mend his will the way they wanted to, to ensure total control and an obedient monster. Leo looked like a monster now.

What was he thinking? He condemned himself to this the moment sick rage got the best of him. Now he wanted nothing more than to apologize to Piper, but he didn't expect her to accept it or forgive him, anyways. Would Luki? He always prayed and preached about that kind of stuff; he'd give Leo a straight and honest answer about this kind of stuff. Leo couldn't even _say_ anything though, and he couldn't write it - not if everyone was giving him strange looks for trying.

That mother seemed to figure it out, though. _Garnet..._ Such a pretty name, and a pretty woman, and he was pretty much _screwed_ after figuring out who she was related to. The only man he knew that was head over heels for the 'reporter' and 'barbarian of a woman' was the Sarge. That mother fucker had it all.

Why do the assholes always win?

Leo's gaze snapped up when Adam cheerfully whistled a tune in front of the mirror, grooming incessantly as he licked his fingertips to fix one tiny stubborn piece of hair. It may have been petty, but Leo burned holes in that little hair and prayed it would continue to give Adam absolute _hell._ It seemed to have, with it not falling into place the way the freak wanted it to. Leo smirked when, in a fit of frustration, it was snipped away; oh what he'd give to _have_ that frustration himself. He ran his real hand along his buzzed head, wishing the stubble grazing his palm would grow faster - and hide the scars.

No more pompadour ever, if he wanted to cover his face. And he'd need sunglasses to block his eyes. He didn't know what he'd do about his arm yet, and - why was this his biggest concern right now, anyways? It's not like he was going back to civilization any time soon. He was trapped here.

"You look sad," Adam hummed, and his perky steps honestly made Leo _sick_ to his stomach. He wanted to tear the scientist's legs out from his ass. The couch dipped, and Adam clasped his hands as he sandwiched them between his thighs, leaning forward to get a good look at Leo's face. "Are you upset that we're not going to the party?"

Seriously? How out of touch with fucking _reality_ was this guy? That he still seemed to believe his company was a delight - even with literally _every person_ sassing him, even other scientists - was bewildering and frightening at the same time.

All Leo could do was shrug and avoid looking into Adam's eyes, because what the hell else was he supposed to do? He didn't want to be punished again and have coursers hold him down, though, especially when he couldn't scream anymore. Goosebumps broke out in a repulsive shiver when Adam patted his knee. "Oh, I'm sorry, 3-0." He had a name, and it wasn't numbers. That the scientist mocked him by making it rhyme with his name deserved to get a finger ripped out the socket for that alone. "It's for your own good, though. That reporter and the man you know as the sergeant are there - so do you still want to go?"

Leo froze. He didn't know how to react to convince the scientist not to _torment_ him and be encouraged to drag him to the party after all. He tapped his wrist incessantly, desperate to move on to something else. Adam chuckled and got up, folding the cuffs of his dress shirt. Why was he wearing a tuxedo if they weren't going? This had to be another mind game, where Adam was going to convince him they weren't, and then drag him anyways.

"When I get the grant and the resources to open my division, I'll finally be able to poke around in your brain." Hadn't he already? What else could explain the reason why Leo wasn't able to strike out and _strangle_ this man? "Then I can fix your dyslexia - it should just be a matter of rewiring how information is processed."

God, if there was a fucking god - and maybe there was for Leo to be suffering to _this_ degree - please don't give this freak the means to do that.

"Here's the panel. Hook it up to yourself, I'll be right back." Adam left and went down the hallway to the bathroom, leaving Leo to struggle as he tried to figure out how to make the 'flap' pop open on his wrist. He remembered where the scientist pressed, but he couldn't feel pressure, and so experimented on hard and light touches.

Nothing worked.

Frustration ignited to life and burned in his throat - it was faster and faster to get upset, and he had no outlet. He couldn't scream. He couldn't cry. He snapped up into standing and his arm reeled back, throwing the panel at the wall. It shattered _beautifully__, _pieces flying. Adam was back in the room in seconds, fixing those fucking stupid cuffs. His hair - usually messily spiked - was now slicked back. The freak looked like a bonafide villain straight out from the comic books that Luki used to read.

"Ah... I should have expected that from you." Adam sighed as he went over, pushing the pieces against the wall with his foot. He frowned at Leo. "I can't fix _stupidity__, _you know."

Leo grabbed the closest thing - some sort of... L shaped device - to throw at the scientist, but his own flesh and blood arm locked down and wouldn't let him. What the hell was stopping him from hurting Adam? The freak calmly strode to him, and Leo was just waiting for coursers to flood in the room. Instead the device was plucked from his fingers and returned to the pristine coffee table.

"If you continue to exhibit this childish behavior then you will never get your voice back, not until I no longer have reason to believe that you would berate me with expletives."

_Well deserved_ expletives.

"There's another suit in the bedroom. Do clean yourself up. We must be presentable before we return to Ms. Butler."

Return... For what? Well, knowing this freak, he was probably running another fucked up experiment to mess with her head - maybe even her kid's head - too.

And Leo wasn't going to let him succeed.

**x - x - x**

"Wait." Sarah's arm came across to block Piper from sneaking past, and the soldier stole a quick peek around the corner. "I think I see a camera. Something's moving, anyways."

"What if it's a turret?"

"It's not."

Well. That was some certainty, considering they had _no clue _about this place or the extent of the Institute's technology. Piper bit her tongue before she sarcastically remarked as such, not wanting to earn the icy stare and the ire of the only ally she had left. She leaned forward to try and get a look herself, but Sarah's arm nudged her right back.

"_Don't,_" Sarah hissed, and Piper earned the icy stare anyways. "I'm holding you back for a reason. Follow my lead or go back to the party."

"Who elected you to be the leader?"

"Me, because I'm the best suited of us to lead right now." Sarah didn't sound arrogant about it - even though the statement screamed it - but said it as if it was _fact. _Just who was this woman, really? Piper frowned and bit her tongue ever harder in the name of keeping peace, set a little at ease when Sarah turned and leaned against the wall, looking up at the ceiling in thought. "It can't be a turret because this used to be a wing, until they closed it off for whatever reason. If a curious scientist wandered in here and defenses were active, killing him or her, then what would the Institute be able to say once news spread?"

"They could clean it up and make a synth in that scientist's stead. Who's to say they aren't going the same lengths to hide their own secrets from their own people?"

"There have to be ways to find out if you're a synth or human, and the Institute couldn't afford that. They'd effectively make themselves go extinct that way."

"Couldn't they? If they're replacing everyone on the surface, who's to say that's not their goal? Just create machines, who create machines, who create machines. Maybe their view on 'helping' humanity is to kill it, because it'll kill itself anyways, like the Great War."

"The scientists would riot if that was the case. Not all of them could be behind this."

"They don't have to _know_ if they are or aren't. Leaders don't always make everything transparent to their followers." Case and point, with the gut feeling Piper had about Sarah. The soldier was definitely hiding something, and it went beyond the usual cold arms-length attitude. This woman operated out of wholesome interest and missions; there was someone that had to back her if she wanted to do anything with whatever she uncovered here.

Piper needed to find that out too, to make sure that what they unearthed wouldn't screw over the _entire_ Commonwealth in the interest of the Brotherhood. There was no way Sarah's allegiance aligned with anybody else.

"Nobody questioned their work in that party..." Piper mused. "Every single one of them has put the Director on this pedestal and it's like a fricken cult. They're just blindly working, never thinking about the consequences because they're not _exposed_ to those consequences. They eat whatever they're told." She glanced around and at the floor, brow furrowing in concentration. She rocked forward on her knees and swiped her finger beside one of their footsteps, then looked at it - it was caked in dust. "The doors weren't locked, but doesn't look like anybody else has been in here except us."

"So what could they be told about this place to stop them from coming in here?"

"Maybe... Maybe they just made this place useless? Or said it was. Why come into a place that serves no purpose and isn't functional?"

"Only one way to find out." Sarah peeked around the corner, then held out her hand at Piper. "Give me that bowtie that guy gave you."

Piper scowled. "_That guy_ has a name, you know." Irritation jolted through her when the soldier shrugged dismissively, her eyes still on the camera. Piper searched the suit jacket's pockets and took out the bowtie, hesitantly handing it over. "What are you going to do?"

Instead of an answer, Sarah disappeared. The reporter bit back a groan, though her head lulled back and she closed her eyes as she whispered a calming mantra to herself. Every part of her buzzed - whether that was from anger or alcohol, or a mix of both, it was hard to say. She thought it was difficult to work with Garrett, but she had a feeling she was about to get a taste of someone far more stubborn and bossy than him.

Curiosity prodded her to check and see, and her cheeks flushed when she glanced around and watched as Sarah crept forward, pressed against the wall until she was underneath the camera. She stretched up high and held the bowtie against the glass part, poking Piper with a memory that invoked... Certain _desires._

_"To the bedroom, then. We can pretend to use my bowtie as a blindfold."_

"Guess he's not going to be the only one blindfolded," she quipped under her breath, burning to tell him that when she saw him again - _after_ thoroughly chewing him out over taking his own joke about strip teasing and turning it into reality. She locked it in her brain to never underestimate that man for being a literal man of his word. "Be careful what you wish for, I guess..."

Sarah waved her over, but pressed a finger to her mouth. Piper buttoned up the suit jacket - thank god it kept her warm, because it was _freezing_ in here - and snuck along. She came up to the soldier and rose on her toes to try and see how they could secure the bowtie, until Sarah nudged her to keep going. The soldier carefully adjusted the camera to point more towards where they had just come, then fluttered the bowtie against the glass before she slipped down and slithered along the wall until she caught up with Piper, who arched her brow in a silent question.

"_Move._" Sarah mouthed, pushing Piper until they came to a bulkhead that appeared to be operated by the terminal mounted on the wall. The soldier dove right in, and Piper hovered over the shoulder to watch - until she earned that icy stare again.

"Why did you do that thing with the camera?" Piper inquired, ignoring the chill that skipped down her spine from the way the soldier looked at her. Maybe it was freezing in here because of _Sarah,_ because the woman didn't have a single goosebump on her and her dress looked even skimpier than Piper's. She couldn't help but envy the muscle definition in the shoulders and arms though; even Sarah had thick and toned forearms.

Maybe when all of this was over, Piper could ask Garrett to take her up on that bridge he was talking about before.

Still no climbing though.

"To make whoever's watching think there was just a brief malfunction," the soldier finally answered. The terminal illuminated her face, her laser focus still unbroken. She was so _rigid. _Piper honestly prayed the Brotherhood would leave the Commonwealth as soon as they were done their business here, and hopefully that business didn't revolve around recruits. She didn't want her little sister to turn into _this - _a woman who's existence revolved around work and subterfuge rather than actually _enjoying_ life and doing some real good.

"Is Luki okay?" Piper blurted, suppressing her grimace when Sarah's gaze snapped to her. "I-I don't need details... I'm just worried, because you seem really tense."

"This is how I always am," Sarah stated factually, then turned back to the terminal. "He's... Fine." A beat. "He better be. Leave it at that - I still don't trust you."

That raised red flags, but Piper knew she wasn't going to squeeze anything else out; it seemed this paranoia about whether or not they were synths was driving everyone nuts. She sighed when the bulkhead's gears creaked as they turned, opening slowly. Both women froze, though Sarah was the first to thaw and entered cautiously as they studied all the signs of a struggle. There was a trail of blood leading to the next bulkhead, and metal limbs strung about the floor.

"We're not the only ones here after all," Sarah murmured as she approached the... 'Corpse', if dead robots can even be called that. She wrapped the bowtie around her palm and plucked a cloth that hung on to a fallen shelf, picking up the synth's pistol with it. Piper didn't know why the need for cloths - unless, maybe Sarah was a germaphobe like Shaun? The reporter shrugged it off before curiosity had a chance to torment her about it, walking over to a second synth corpse to take it's gun. "Don't pick it up without covering your hands," Sarah snapped, "we can't take these out with us, so we can't risk leaving our fingerprints on it when we leave the guns behind."

"Fingerprints?" Piper glanced over with a confused look, studying the way the soldier held the gun before she tried to mimic it herself. She couldn't get a reliable grip though. "The recoil is going to knock this gun right out my hands, and how the heck am I supposed to reload it?"

"You won't." Sarah came over and kicked the gun well away from the reporter, who struggled not to roll her eyes. She couldn't even be trusted with a gun, but, oh, totally fine if a trained killer - masked by 'virtue' and 'military discipline' - could possess one, despite the blatant evidence around them that they weren't the only ones here. "Because there's no ammo."

_...Oh. _Maybe it wasn't a matter of trust, then.

"Besides, laser weapons don't have recoil the way ballistics do." Sarah helped herself to the tail end of Piper's dress and tugged it up to disengage what looked like the safety on the pistol; the reporter fired a sour look as she pulled the dress back down to cover her thighs, but it seemed to either be ignored, or was ignored. No other option. "Haven't you ever fired one before?"

"No," Piper shrugged. "Never saw the appeal."

"Never saw the - are you _kidding me?_ They're more efficient, and you don't leave a mess the way you do with ballistics. Think about blood spatters and the bullet casings, and the gunpowder residue, and the list goes on and on."

Um, did Sarah forget about the state of the world? There was debris everywhere on the surface.

"They also leave a horrible smell every time one is fired," Piper countered, "and an even worse smell when something's _hit._" There was something about getting that discipline and stoicism to crack that was surprisingly amusing, and Piper struggled not to smirk like the Devil. Now she understood how Garrett felt whenever he pushed her buttons and riled her up. "Besides, nobody's going to care about leaving a mess." Laughter snorted in her throat. "What are you, like a germaphobic assassin or something?"

"The only kinds of people I know that would prefer ballistics over energy are undisciplined thugs like _raiders _who don't know how to handle a laser weapon," Sarah calmly fired back.

Uh huh. All the gloves were off now. Piper's chest puffed out, though she was admittedly _a wee bit_ intimidated when the soldier did the same. There was an aggravating air of authority about Sarah though, and authority never bode well with the reporter, period. Every 'leader' she'd ever met was either ignorant or arrogant, or a liar and an abuser; sometimes even a combination of all of them. It was safe to say the soldier was a natural liar with what the Brotherhood must have demanded of her, both past and now plausibly even the present.

Hell, maybe she even lied to herself.

"The only ones who have to think about efficiency are people who have dedicated their life to be a _killer,_" Piper hissed.

"No. It's people who have dedicated their life to humanity's _survival._"

"You can't convince me the Brotherhood of Steel is about survival. They have never been about survival - at least, not anybody that wasn't already in their ranks."

"Interesting how you say that despite not ever serving, and assuming I still am." Sarah's eyes narrowed. "Institute dog."

"No, I've just got eyes, and anyone with eyes can see you'll _never_ give that life up. I don't have to be a soldier to know what they're like when I hear all the stories. The Brotherhood is just like the Institute. Both of you only care about yourselves and will do _anything_ to accomplish your own goals and believe that the ends justify the means. It never has. It's just the comforting lie you tell yourself so that you can sleep at night, knowing you took that luxury away from someone else." Piper yelped when her suit jacket was grabbed as she was shoved and pinned to the wall. The cold pistol dug underneath her jaw, and she swallowed nervously at the sight of Sarah's finger on the trigger. Piper refused to back down, though. "Who's the thug now? We've barely talked and you're already resorting to violence to coerce and get what you want."

"Talked? You're accusing the Brotherhood of Steel and comparing them to the _fucking_ _Institute _when you have no evidence to support any of your points," Sarah seethed. "It's colored conjecture that's come out of nowhere." Nowhere? That was _her _fault for getting so offended about laser weaponry and taking pot shots because of it. Frigging elitist. She was almost as bad as that perky prick Adam. "You _are_ serving the Institute and you're just trying to manipulate me."

"No I'm not!" A hand snapped around Piper's throat, fingers digging painfully. She gasped and wheezed as the pressure closed her airway, and she clawed helplessly.

"And you know what happened to the last 'Piper' I crossed?" Sarah jammed the pistol into Piper's forehead. "She was bound and gagged, on her knees; the Institute used her to manipulate me then, too. Luki fell for it, and jeopardized the survival of the Commonwealth because of it all. He won't fall for that trick anymore." Dread took over fear when all emotion died in the icy eyes. "I let the Institute put a _bullet _in that Piper's head, and I found wires. I'm going to find them in yours too."

"_Please... Don't... Kill...!_"

"You wanted to find the truth, didn't you? This is the only way, because **you** are the lie."

Piper shrieked, along with metal, and that horrible smell flooded the air. Then nothing.

Life slipped away.


	19. Blood Of Redemption

_**[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE**__**]  
Chapter 19: Blood Of Redemption  
Warning: **Nobody is safe.  
_

* * *

Piper trembled, her heart in her throat. She watched, dazed, as she lifted her hand and wiped at whatever leaked down the side of her head, staring at the blood glinting on her fingers. She looked down at the corpse at her feet, then flew back and slammed against the wall when metal shrieked again. She looked over, gaping at the man at the door where other blood trails led to. His pistol slipped from his hand and he grabbed his waist, slumping against the wall.

"_...Blue?_"

"Are you alright, Piper?" John rasped weakly, and she rushed to his side to help him, panicking with how much blood trickled out and over her fingers.

"What happened, who shot you?" Her head whipped back to Sarah, who was face down, the red puddle growing around her head. "You killed S-Sarah... Luki... Luki's goi-"

"That wasn't Sarah."

"_What?_"

"That-" John hissed as he slipped down to the floor. His voice cracked, striking fear in her heart with how much weaker and _scared_ he sounded. "H-help me, please..."

"Hang on, Blue." She ripped off Garrett's jacket and rolled it up, pressing it into John's wound. "Hold this and stay here, I'm going to see if I can find a first aid kit."

"No." John ensnared her wrist, smearing even more blood on her skin. This whole place smelled like it, was covered in it - this was a fucking _nightmare. _"Go inside. Look. _See._"

"See what?" Piper pressed her hand against his wound, freaking out when his head lazily lulled forward. "Blue, stay with me! Hang on, just... Just, _please,_ hang on!"

John coughed, scarlet trickling down his lips. His hand slipped away. She broke in that instant, the world growing misty. She shook him, her own voice bleeding out to the white noise that rang in her brain, tears suffocating her. Red flooded her vision no matter where she looked, and death surrounded her. Numb, she peeled the jacket away and searched for whatever spots that were still clean, spitting on her arm to try and wipe off the blood before it dried. She retraced her steps until she found the bowtie and used it to apply pressure to her forehead, stomach churning and gnarling like there was barbed wire wrapping around her intestines.

When Sarah swam back in her vision, Piper turned and puked; she shook harder than ever before, forcing on nothing but to place one foot next in front of the other until she passed John, struggling to hold on to a single thought in the sea of thousands. She followed John's blood trail to the next door, reaching for the bloodstained button to open it.

And hesitated.

There were reminders everywhere - painted on the floor, the walls, her hands. People were _dying_ because of the truth - when she was _so certain _it would liberate and save the Commonwealth... But everybody was here because she endangered them all with her stepping on the Institute's coat tail.

Yet, at that party, all those scientists genuinely believed in their work. Most had nothing to do with the surface, but rather innovated and invented new things to improve life down here, or to bring things back from the pre-war era like animals and plants. They were passionate and believed in their endeavors, in the greater good that came from it, _just like her. _But like ripples of a stone dropping into a pond, the peace was disturbed by their work - the Institute _and hers_ \- and each ripple swept a life away with it.

People were already dying, and if she opened this door, the threat of putting more lives at risk would become a reality. What if the next victim was not her, but Garrett, or even his family? What if the Institute didn't even _need_ to clean them up, but just sow the seed of paranoia and let them kill each other - then blame it on the typical wastelander way of life?

If she walked out of here, she could continue her blissful existence with Garrett, and eventually he would be allowed to visit his family again. It was clean here. Safe. If she talked to Shaun, maybe she could bring Nat here. Could she live a lie, though?

_"You wanted to find the truth, didn't you? This is the only way, because **you** are the lie."_

Piper looked back at John. At Sarah. She took out her notepads, flipping through the pages until she looked at what the last 'Piper' had written.

_Mr. Always Right knows Wright from Wrong. __But who will know who is Always Right?_

Piper still didn't know; and honestly, she didn't think Garrett completely believed her either, but at least he was willing enough to try and see where this could go - or maybe that willingness was just him being a victim of grief, desperate for comfort and willing to live this life even if it was a lie.

Whatever John saw beyond this door gave him the certainty that she wasn't dealing with the _real_ Sarah, and that implied what Piper wanted so badly was in front of her.

The truth.

The question now was: would it be worth it?

**x - x - x**

"Alright, here is the plan for dinner tonight!" Garnet earned a giggle as she dramatically slashed at the air with her hand, gesturing to all the plates on the coffee table as the settled on the couch; she made a mental note to see if there was someone where she could request a proper dinner table and some chairs. "There will be _no_ sweets until you eat ALL your vegetables..." She struggled to hide her grimace as she picked up one of the nutrition bars, holding it out to Rose. "And ALL your fruits."

"But mum, _please,_ those are disgusting."

Never before had wanted Garnet to scream: _"I know honey, I know all too well." _Tendrils of pain buzzed harder and harder as the pressure of her teeth clamped down on her tongue, forcing other words out of her mouth. "They're good for you and they'll make you grow stronger and smarter and-"

"_Please_ mum, don't make me eat it, I hate it it's disgusting!" The big beady puppy eyes were out at full force, but there couldn't be a mother in the world who has not been forced to harden her heart and her _soul_ to be impervious to this dangerous weapon. Garnet made a stern look and stared expectantly, bouncing the bar in her hand. "Please mum it's just - you can't _force_ me to eat it, you can't force me, it's **disgusting!**"

"Okay! Jesus..." Garnet forced herself to peel the wrapper, breaking off an inch of the bar. She put the pieces on a spare plate as she took one from each nutritional bar, then stared expectantly at Rose again. "I just want you to eat one of the broccoli flavor, three of the carrots, and two of the peaches."

"But mum it's disgusting please!"

Oh dear god.

Rose's hands threaded in her hair, and it bore striking resemblance to what Garnet had the habit of doing when she was stressed. She seriously needed to watch herself as carefully as her daughter did, before she accidentally passed on any... _Unsavory_ habits. The little girl dramatically flopped on the couch as she pretended to choke and die, rolling away to hide her face in the couch. Her legs flailed and kicked at the cushions. "I hate it, you can't force me!"

"Alright, _Jesus!_ Just..." Garnet picked up the plate of the pieces, trying not to appear so heartbroken as she popped the broccoli piece in her mouth. It called to the most stalwart of willpower hidden deep inside of her as she managed to eat it with a straight face, staring at the little girl who twisted enough to peek with an eye; _chance._ Garnet held out the piece of the peach flavor. "Stick out your tongue and let me wipe it across."

Maybe she should have given up by now, but she refused to. Every day was a battle with this one. It kept things interesting at least, and Garnet would rather be tearing out her hair than go back to the miserable life she had before, numbly staring at a ceiling as she waited for the filthy degenerate to be finished with her.

Rose turned a little more, eyes narrowed as if analyzing Garnet. "And then can we have the sweets after?"

"_Yes~_" Garnet groaned exasperatedly. She did as promised however, knowing fully well it would backfire horribly if she got greedy and tried to pop the piece into Rose's mouth. She prayed to any and every single transient being that could possibly exist, hoping that the sweets she'd gotten from the synth vendor in the cafeteria would actually be _tasty_ and not anything like these bloody bars. She needed some sort of reliable reward to _bribe _her daughter any time Rose actually listened or excelled at something in school.

How in the hell did the people survive here off of this wretched stuff? Maybe she should request some supplies and a frying pan to open their eyes on what _real_ food tastes like.

Beeps alerted her and Rose shot up on her knees, watching with an eagerness that Garnet couldn't remember for the longest time. This little girl was always terrified of people, and now she actually looked forward to seeing them; it probably helped they weren't armed to the teeth. The door opened and the goodwill died - with Garnet, anyways - when Adam invited himself in with that blasted perky smile, wearing some sort of gaudy tuxedo. '3-0' followed behind shortly after in similar attire.

"Hi Adam! What do you have this time?" Rose blurted cheerfully as she bounced on her knees, then seemed to freeze. Her head slowly swiveled with a guilty smile fired at Garnet, who sighed and shook her head, dismissing it with a wave before she made it a point to look at the 'food' on the table. Rose equally made it a point as she looked back at the men.

"What do you want _now, _Adam?" Garnet asked tiredly, the rest of her energy already drained; it wasn't even anywhere close to bedtime yet.

"I thought I'd bring the party here, seeing as how you passed up on the opportunity! Christmas is a time to be merry and celebrate with people."

Garnet openly glared at him; _this_ guy celebrated nothing but himself. He had to have something else up his sleeve. "I already said I'm not going to leave Rose alone with anybody."

"Aw~ mum, I'd be fine. I'm a big girl!" It went ignored, though it fueled Adam's infuriating smile.

"See? Your daughter is growing into a fine young woman, Garnet. You know you'll have to let go of her someday." Adam's hands came out from behind his back, showing some sort of a bottle, and strands of vibrant green leaves tied together by a red bow. The colors were almost magnetic, drawing her in. She thought to approach and touch it, curious to inspect it, equally puzzled as to how Adam could hold it barehanded. Most plants on the surface had toxins of some sort, whether transmitted through skin or air. Leaves were always dull and yellow, but books painted pretty pictures of what they used to be.

It distracted her long enough for her retort to fade away, and she didn't dignify him with a response as she glanced over at 3-0, who seemed to be confused, studying Adam; probably to figure out what in the world this strange man was up to now.

"I've a bottle of wine for the adults, and I have synths waiting out in the hallway with a _proper_ meal than those bars you've got there. And, little one, I've got a teddy bear for you." Adam smirked when Rose cheered, growing ever more excited as she bounced higher on the couch. Garnet knew better than to try and reign in the fiery spirit now, and she crossed her arms when Adam plopped the things he held in 3-0's hand, clapping cheerfully before he pressed the button to open the door as he announced. "Bring the party in here!"

Within minutes, synths flooded the apartment, wheeling in carts of miscellaneous goods and food. It made Rose even _more_ hyper as her eyes grew at the promising sights and sounds of actual food, and even Garnet swallowed an inordinate amount of saliva pooling inside her mouth. This was as obvious as it got to _bribery,_ and she hiked up her guard as she scrutinized every single move Adam made towards her daughter. What interest did he have in her?

Garnet wasn't sure if she actually wanted to find out the details, and she did her best to suppress her limp as she made way over to Rose and gently grabbed her daughter's hand to pull her away from Adam, kneeling and cupping the chin to ensure she had full attention. It wouldn't work. Not yet. "Rose." Garnet squeezed her daughter's chin and hand just a little tighter. "**Rose.**"

"Yeah mum?" Rose still kept looking at all the goodies; there was no way Garnet could ever compete with something like that - hell, not when she was still being swayed and lured by that bloody food too. Garnet sighed and leaned in close to whisper in her daughter's ear, but made sure to keep her eyes on the grinning man the entire time.

"Just be careful, honey. Remember what I warned you about, okay? You can play with him, but don't trust him."

"Yeah mum!"

And off she dashed to explore all the things on the carts.

Christ, almighty... Please for the love of god - if there was one - _please _make it past this short young lady's _even shorter_ attention span and engrave it into memory.

Garnet winced as she struggled to come up, glaring when Adam offered his hand. There was something different about his smile, and a surprisingly serious look swept over his eyes. "You should not still be having trouble with your leg. Are you certain they fixed it as they should?"

"How should I know? I'm not a doctor, and I don't work here."

Adam clicked his tongue off the roof of his mouth. "Med-bay is biased and inclined to treat outsiders as guinea pigs-"

"Like you?"

"I don't discriminate my patients, Garnet." The statement earned a breathy scoff from 3-0, and Garnet observed how he seemed... Defensive, or maybe protective, in the way that he stood nearby. Adam ignored it and bounced his hand. "And I don't hack away, willy nilly. All procedures I do are done with purpose. Get on the couch, I'll assess your knee for you and find out what's actually going on."

"I'm not consenting to any more surgeries," Garnet narrowed her eyes, and the words tumbled out without thought as she jerked her chin to 3-0. "I don't want to end up like him."

"Like him?" Adam balked, glancing over at the man who twisted away and strode decisively to the carts. Garnet was about to issue an apology until the scientist cut her off. "I _saved_ him, you know. I brought him back from the dead."

Another scoff from 3-0, and finally, for the first time - that Garnet's ever seen - Adam appeared as irritated as he sounded.

"You know, you could be a little more grateful. There was no way around your eyes, because there was nothing left to salvage after you were stupid and _diabolical _enough to set yourself up to receive a _bullet to the head._ It's a scientific marvel in itself that you're alive; and, on top of all that, as soon as I got the resources, I spent _all_ of them to upgrade your eyes to be more functional than the ridiculous hand-me-downs I'd gotten from that scrapped prototype. And your arm? Your arm would have given you trouble in no time with the amount of scar tissue you had building up in your shoulder girdle from repeated trauma, which would cause no small amount of agony later in life; thus it would only result in _more_ complications during surgery if I were to attempt to rewire your nervous system when you're old and feeble, rather than young as you are now."

Garnet watched in silence, soaking in and picking apart what their body language screamed. She shook her head when Rose's eyes met hers from down at the kitchen, and the young girl shrugged as she merrily went back to taking the trays of food she wanted. Panic surged through Garnet when Rose tried to climb up on the counter, and she forced herself to try and stand, only for a stubborn hand to snap around her elbow and hoist her up.

"If you wish to convince me you're not the average wastelander, then do make an effort not to do foolish things like that," Adam hissed. "You're injuring yourself even more, and it'll only get worse until you can no longer chase your daughter." She jerked free from his grip as she limped over to the kitchen and helped safely lift Rose up to sit in the corner and pick at fresh meat with her fingers.

Tension broiled in the air, and Garnet glanced over her shoulder as she watched Adam. "You won't do any surgeries without my permission though, right?"

"Should the necessity arise, then I'm confident I will get your permission." The _cockiness_ from this man rubbed her in all the wrong ways, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it wasn't exactly something she wasn't _used_ to, thanks to her brother. She sighed and lumbered back over to take a seat at the opposite couch, mouthing her apology to 3-0. His robotic gaze panned from her and fixated on the wall; it was a surefire sign that he _was_ suffering as he was, and she pitied him that it was all in silence.

Adam's energetic steps gave way to more decisive strides, and he knelt in front of her as he undid her brace with expert swiftness to palpate her knee, making her leg do strange things when he grabbed her ankle and made her leg extend or twist. She cringed when pain shot out during the twisting motions and when he pulled the knee forward, or pushed it back, and didn't compose her expressions in time for the... Strange-colored eyes to hone in on her. There were hues of both green and blue.

Was that even natural?

"It's no wonder you're in so much pain, or walking in this brace," Adam mused quietly. "You'd be on the fast track to developing arthritis - likely before the age of 35. Those _idiots_ not only screwed up your knee, but they continued to by issuing you this brace. It should _at least_ have tri-compartment offloading and pain relief, not add _to_ your pain."

"So... What's wrong now, then?"

"Both the lateral and medial meniscus of your knee are torn - of what severity, I won't know unless I get imaging done to see what's going on inside there. Or, alternatively - and the option I recommend most - is that I perform a minimally invasive surgery."

"No."

"Ah, I knew it!" Adam chuckled. "Believe me when I say it would be in your best interest to listen to your options first. After all, I did say I'm confident I'll get your permission. And, as you know, I'm a man of my word." The cheekiness was beginning to break out again, and Adam's infuriating smile came out to play. Garnet sighed and crossed her arms as she leaned back into the couch, which was mistaken for _permission to talk_ again. "The surgery I'm talking about involves inserting a scope where I see exactly what's going on inside your knee. And since I'm already there, then I can also make another couple of tiny incisions for my tools and begin to repair the damage - _properly _this time, of course."

"Won't I be out cold for that? Then I won't be able to give consent for that part of the procedure."

"You'd truly say no to someone who can fix your knee and take your pain away?"

"When that someone is you, and when the Institute is the reason why I'm _like this_ in the first place, then yes. I'm well aware of what you've done to my brother-"

"What, is he upset with the improvements I've made? He never complained to me about them, and I _know_ I explicitly told him that I could easily remove or reverse everything I'd done if he was not satisfied with his upgrades, so long as he reported to me the results of them for my research - which he has, and every bit of it was a success. _Na__turally._"

Garnet didn't know what to say. She never ventured that far into the topic, especially when what precious time they had gotten to spend together was so very little already, and he wanted to spend every minute of it with Rose. It was still Adam's word to take for it though, and she glanced over at 3-0. "What about his 'upgrades'? Would you reverse his? Did you take his voice away because you knew he'd say he isn't 'satisfied'?"

"No, of course not, because untangling his would kill him. _Again._ And he doesn't have a voice because he spent every second abusing it with expletives. Unless you'd like your daughter to learn some of those choice swear words and derogatory language, then it's for the best and-"

"That's something you can't determine."

"Of course it is, I'm the one that's qualified to make those calls." Jesus. It blew her mind away any time she met someone who felt _this _entitled to life.

"You can't dictate human nature; making mistakes is part of being human, and that doesn't give you the authority over anyone else to take that right away."

"You have no idea who you're defending, Ms. Butler," Adam seethed hatefully, and the _emotion_ that dripped from his tone and eyes had honestly taken her aback, along with the switch back to her surname. "You're so concerned for him, but that man would sooner spit on your concern, and even _attack you._" The scientist flailed his arm in 3-0's direction, and Garnet caught her daughter's eyes again. She interjected quickly when Adam's gaunt and pale face had begun to grow crimson as his mouth opened. "If you knew what he-"

"We should discuss this some other time." Garnet subtly jerked her head in Rose's direction, hoping that the pushy man would at least respect _this_ silent request.

Seconds ticked by excruciatingly slow, and a sense of awkwardness loomed over them. It wasn't until Adam sighed and carded a hand through his slick hair, disturbing it's sleek form, that the tension simmered somewhat. "Of course." That must have been his favorite phrase, with how often he used it. He went back to playing with her knee, and she swallowed the squeamish feelings over how _disgusting_ it felt to feel her kneecap move around. Adam wore a thoughtful look, laser focus burning bright in his eyes as he continued to palpate bony landmarks. "Come to my lab tomorrow so I can do some imaging on your knee. From there you can give me your _express permission_ over the course of action you'd like to take."

"Why not today?"

Adam smiled that slippery slithery snake-like smile. He took her brace, and part of her almost lunged for it, until she remembered what he said - but what if that was just a smokescreen for him to torture her? He stood and strode to collect the bottle of wine before he returned to offer his hand to her. "Because we have a Christmas party to enjoy. I even pulled a few strings and brought the dress you would have been issued if you accepted the invitation."

"...Alright. Thank you." Garnet reciprocated the smile, but by no means has she brought down her guard. She was going to use this man just as much as he was likely using her, with whatever agenda he was accomplishing with these gestures of his. There was no way she was going to be put to sleep - not when she wouldn't know how long it would _actually_ be for, and if he wasn't going to sneak something into her system the way he already had to two others. She refused to be sucked into his game of sick experiments, and even sicker rationales. This man needed to get a taste of reality and consequences.

"Will you need assistance with the dress?" Adam inquired, and instinct immediately surged into overprotective mode as she dug herself into the couch. It brought down reality on _her,_ when she realized that she was absolutely defenseless should there be anyone who wanted to take advantage of her... But the Institute had plenty of chances. Adam had plenty of chances. She was calmed, somewhat, when he made a gesture to one of the synths. "I have clearance to order them whatever I wish, and I could get them to assist you."

"I'll be fine, just give me the dress." Garnet hesitantly took his hand, mildly aware of the cold robotic eyes that were glued on her, but only if she never returned the gaze. Shivers raced down her spine, and it only encouraged vigilance over her own wellbeing as much as Rose's. As soon as Garnet received her dress - knowing she would just be _annoyed_ until she'd oblige - she smiled as warmly as she could muster when she looked to her daughter. "Rose, could you come with me to the bedroom, please? I'm going to need your help to zip up this dress."

"Ah," Adam murmured, "that does make far more sense, yes."

Garnet's cheeks ached with a grin she tried - and failed - to hold back, mocking the times he'd have that aggravating air of superiority. "I can't fault you for not being _armed_ with wit."

And she limped away with her head held high, feeling dangerously smug for shooting his words back in his face.

It felt damn good to give the Institute - no, to give _Adam_ a taste of his own medicine.

**x - x - x**

Leo didn't know what to do with himself. He tucked away in the most secluded room that he could find in the apartment: the bathroom. He shut off the lights, irritated when his eyes automatically switched to night-vision mode, and sat in the corner as he closed his eyes. He hated hearing them _talk,_ condemned to a fate where he couldn't do the same. He couldn't defend himself. He couldn't explain himself. All he could do was wallow in misery and pity. It frustrated him beyond belief that Garnet seemed to warm to Adam - or at least, wasn't as harsh in reprimanding his haughtiness and absurdity, but that could've just been the wine making her _just as absurd._

Didn't she care about her daughter? Rose was just playing with robots and strange devices that could've been brainwashing her, for all they knew. His skin crawled when he had actually heard _Garnet_ laugh instead of Adam, and he drew his knees to his chest as he rested his forehead on them. All he could imagine was that freak putting his hands all over the pretty lady, and her gobbling up all the fucking attention from that asshole - just like Piper and the asshole Sarge.

Once again, as always, the assholes were winning.

Why the hell was he even whining so much about this anymore? Adam _was _right, or was about to be right, with what he was most likely going to tell Garnet in regards to what Leo was going to do to Piper. He didn't deserve to be jealous of anyone, but neither could he help it; everybody's life was infinitely better than his.

Sloppy footsteps caught his attention, and he lifted his head, dread knotting in his stomach when he deduced the light - though _lagged _\- gait making way towards the bathroom. The door slid open and his eyes automatically adjusted again when the lights were flicked on, and he stared at Garnet, who swayed at the doorway and clung to it. It took a moment - and a few steps - before she realized his presence, gaping at him as she held on to the wall for support.

"Y-you..." Garnet mumbled, then stumbled for the toilet. "That wine... That wine was... Was it spiked? I don't get like this, _this _fast. I think."

That was enough to get Leo to shoot up into standing, watching the door. He slithered to it and peeked around the corner, wondering why Adam wasn't coming _if_ the wine was spiked. He hit the button to lock the door and turned to help Garnet, gritting his teeth when his gaze landed on her backside first, calling out the baser needs he always indulged in his simple mercenary life. He swiftly strode to her side and held out his metal arm for support, wrapping his other hand around her waist to steady her as she limped to the toilet.

"Hey, can you really not talk?" Every word came labored, heaving heavily in between as she groaned. She all but collapsed before the toilet, but he held her, gently lowering so that her knees wouldn't smash the tiled floor. He shook his head when she finally looked up at him. She frowned, hand slipping up to cup his cheek, thumb roving over one of his scars.

It made him **scream** inside.

"Three-Oh..." She whispered, and he froze, for he was sure he heard something else. "Horrible - like Adam and Atom. He inherited his pa's shite naming and passed it down to you. Figured it out though." What the heck was she going on about? "Atom isn't as smart as he thinks he is." She suddenly twisted away and retched in the toilet, and instinct guided his hand to collect the strands of hair that'd fallen out of her ponytail and kept it out of her face. His metal hand brushed against her cheek as he scooped them away, and he immediately switched for his _real _hand, until she caught his fingers and pressed it against her neck. "That's cold. Feels good."

_For the love of god, woman..._

"Will you-" she hiccuped, and groaned as she hovered over the toilet. Leo tentatively reached and pressed the button on the lid to flush down the first round of vomit. He watched her intently, and he was beginning to notice how much more pronounced her accent was, when she seemed to focus on her words to combat the subtle slur in her tone. "Will you keep an eye on me?"

Did she really need to ask that? She should be worried that he'd keep an eye on more than she would want him to.

Leo shook his head when she looked over at him, and she strained a weak sweat-soaked smile. She chose the worst time to come in here, giving him the worst idea, when he was _already_ having the worst idea. "I s'pose... S'pose I earned that, with what I said earlier." No, no, that wasn't the reason why. He didn't blame her... And he already resigned to knowing he looked like the monster he was.

"I didn't mean it. I'm sorry. I just... I'm scared this place will change me like they did to my brother. I'm scared they'll make Rose hate me. Atom's going to make her hate me. That's got to be why he's playing with her - the Institute wants to take her away, just like how they took away the son of... Of... I can't remember who." Was she talking about the General's baby boy? Was John even here? "But my brother told me, and it's kinda why we're trapped here. Sort of. I don't remember. I don't... What did he say? _Piss__. _Doesn't matter. I'll kill them if they trick Rose into hating me. Atom will be the first to have my hands wrapped 'round his neck."

All these words, and Leo had so much to say in return, but he was condemned to silence. He didn't know what to do, and wasn't even aware that his hand was drawing circles on her back until his gaze _wandered_ back towards her backside. He immediately forced his eyes back up on her face, grimacing at the vivid smells when she lurched and puked in the toilet for another round. She collapsed on the side and he flushed it again, tugging on her until she sat against the wall instead. He held his metal hand on her forehead, and she took it to guide it to cool the back of her neck. Her disheveled ponytail came undone and spilled everywhere as her chest heaved, straining the dress as her breasts-

**Stop.**

"Will you keep an eye on Rose for me? Please don't let them take her away from me. She's all I've got left-" another hiccup. "-all I've got left in life. I don't know what I'd do if I lost her. I dunno what Garrett would do if he lost her, too. We wouldn't bother with livin' no more, that's for sure; not when she gave us a reason to keep tryin' this livin' thing in the first place, and have hope, too. She's all I've got left. You'll watch her, won't you? Please. I don't 'ave much here, or back home, but I'll pay you in whatever y'want if you watch her - make sure she's safe, especially if they kill me."

Where the hell was all of this coming from? Was this paranoia, or something she figured out somewhere? Leo was having a hard time keeping up with her - and it drove home the point and _pity_ of what Luki must have had to suffer through whenever Leo was drunk. He didn't have a chance to think about it when she lunged and grabbed his tie, twisting it around her fist as she came inches away from his face, begging. "Promise me you'll watch over her."

This lady didn't know who the hell she was asking - and Adam even warned her as much. She didn't seem stupid, so why was she _being_ stupid?

"Please, Leo. Will you watch her?"

He froze. He _hadn't_ misheard earlier, or was he mishearing now? How did she figure it out? He didn't hear his name come up when she conversed with Adam.

"_Leo..._"

He moved. He nodded without thinking, damning himself, but he moved because she moved him and - fucking _hell_ \- wouldn't that move anyone? He scooped her up and had contemplated on saying one of those prayers - he'd often listened in on Luki - when her legs lazily wrapped around his hips. Then her dress hiked up to the point that he'd have no choice _but_ to hold her bare thighs, if he didn't want her to slip right through the dress and land on her ass. The last thing she needed right now was to break that too.

Was all that an excuse, or a reason? The line was rapidly blurring, and his heart was speeding. He had to get out of here. He didn't trust himself anymore.

So why the hell was she trusting him? What happened to motherly instincts?

"Thank you..." Garnet hid her face in his neck, and the pits of his belly stirred at her suggestion. "Doubt you take caps down here. How 'bout sex? Y'don't got metal bits too, d'ya?"

Yeah. She was definitely very, _very_ drunk, because she had never given the impression that she'd ever let anyone lay a hand on her or her daughter, sober.

This was the opportunity of a lifetime. Why wasn't he _jumping?_ Any woman who made such an offer and was willing would be ravished against the wall at this point - and the thing was, he was considering it. It would be just that small bit of familiarity of his old life, reminding him of who he was; he'd take the parts he wasn't proud of, because at least it reminded him that _shame_ was something humans felt, and not robots or monsters.

"_Leo,_" she purred lowly, and angled her pelvis. She nipped his neck. "Y'don't feel like you got metal bits. How 'bout a little incentive for protecting my daughter?"

_Fucking hell, woman._

What happened to redemption and forgiveness? He was going to put himself back on the path to burning the most painful fucking death in hell if he fell for this trap.

...Especially if the Sarge ever found out his sister was taken advantage of like _this._

Not another thought was needed. Leo moved quickly and turned to hit the door's button with the back of his shoulder, trying not to think about how _warm_ her skin felt against his real hand, or how comforting it was to feel the weight of another human being around him. It may have not been a hug out of love as it was of necessity, but it still felt all the same to him. He grew suspicious of the empty and quiet living room, where scraps of food littered the kitchen just as much as toys littered all over the couches, and an empty glass of wine sat beside a full glass.

Panic surged through him; maybe the wine really _was_ spiked, but why the hell would this woman drink it without seeing Adam do the same? She was watching all night, and what, she just forgot to watch the most important part? Leo desperately wished he could curse aloud, or at least get these questions _out _of his mind before it drove him insane. The woman in his arms felt heavier as she slumped even more, and he arched his back for her to lean forward before she slipped back and out of his arms.

Every fear disappeared when he opened the door to the bedroom, and saw Adam gently lowering Rose into bed. The scientist turned - rather flamboyantly at that, and his face was just as flushed as his eyes were glazed. Well. The wine wasn't spiked. These were either some very light drinkers, or they drank really hard shit.

Leo couldn't even laugh, but he pushed the _hatred_ out of his mind before it had a chance to fester and bring him down from this small scrap of amusement. He shook his head when Adam just barely stopped himself from stumbling over as he collided back into the nightstand. Great. Now that freak had to be carried back home, too. Hopefully he wouldn't remember about just being _dragged_ back by his ankles.

It gave rise to another mischievous idea; the perfect time to get some fucking payback, for once.

"Is she-" Adam hiccuped. "Is she alright?"

_Don't pretend to have a heart, asshole. _If only Leo could say it aloud. He could tell just by the way this freak was looking at Garnet, that all he was interested in was _not_ her leg, but what was between her legs. Not that Leo was any better. He nodded as he went to the other side of the bed, irritated when Adam rushed to follow. Then he peeled the sheets away, and Leo reluctantly conceded, cradling the back of Garnet's head as he slowly lowered her to lay beside her daughter. The two almost instantaneously gravitated towards each other as Rose rolled into Garnet's chest, clinging for dear life just like the teddy bear she took into bed with her.

Something rattled inside. Anger warred with this strange warm feeling, and as Adam draped the sheet back over, all Leo could think about was the parents he never had to do this with him. Part of him wanted to _destroy_ this out of envy, and the other part wanted to protect this innocence at all costs.

Was he even allowed to redeem himself anymore?

_God dammit, if only Lucky Charms was here. _

"Wish I had that," Adam mumbled. Leo stared at him, frightened by the similarity of their thoughts - and desperately amounted it to Adam just wanting to have his face in Garnet's breasts. That _had_ to be it. Leo wanted that _too,_ though, and - out of habit - furiously mussed up the hair he no longer had, wincing when his metal hand scraped against his scalp. He took the scientist by the elbow and begun to drag him out the room so that the ladies had their privacy, then looped Adam's arm around his neck. That he willingly braved to suffer to be this close was only because it carried with it an ulterior motive, and he deftly undid Adam's belt as he roughly tugged on the drunk scientist to _distract_ him from what was happening below.

And for once, Leo wasn't at all bothered that he couldn't laugh - not out loud, anyways. It would've given him away, and he grinned evilly as he dragged the unsuspecting scientist back to their apartment, taking his sweet time when he noticed Adam had fallen asleep. The pants eventually wiggled down the hips, and soon enough, down to the ankles. Leo forced his face neutral and bit on his tongue whenever his robotic expression was threatened to break, especially when they passed by other drunk scientists that openly gaped, gasped, or giggled as they pointed at Adam.

_Glorious._

Leo couldn't wait to tell Garnet what he did. She'd appreciate this prank.

...If only he could talk.


End file.
